GOLDEN, Colo. — A Colorado man who was placed on life support after being bitten by his pet Gila monster died from complications caused by the desert lizard's venom, an autopsy report obtained Friday by The Associated Press confirmed.
The report also found that heart and liver problems were significant contributing factors in Christopher Ward's death.
Ward, 34, was rushed to hospital on February 12 shortly after being bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters. His death less than four days later is believed to be the first death from a Gila monster in the United States in nearly 100 years. .
An autopsy conducted by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office on Feb. 18 revealed that Ward was bitten for four minutes and was unconscious for about two hours before receiving medical attention. He suffered multiple seizures and acute respiratory failure in hospital.
Ward's girlfriend turned over the lizard named Winston and another lizard named Potato to animal control officers and other officers in the Denver suburb of Lakewood the day after they were bitten. According to the animal control officer's report, she told police she heard a “mischievous” noise and entered the room to see Winston holding Ward's hand.
According to the report, she told Officer Ward that she “immediately began experiencing symptoms and vomited several times and eventually passed out and stopped breathing.” She also said she and Ward bought Winston at a reptile show in Denver in October and Potato from a zookeeper in Arizona in November. The woman told police she had been told Gila Monster was illegal in Lakewood and she wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible, according to the report.
Troopers working with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources sent the lizards to a reptile garden outside Rapid City, South Dakota. Twenty-six spiders of various species were also moved from the home to a nearby animal shelter.
The Gila monster is a venomous reptile that lives naturally in the southwestern United States and nearby areas of Mexico. The bite can cause extreme pain and cause the victim to faint, but is usually not fatal.
They are legal to own in most states, easy to find at breeders and reptile shows, and are widely known for their striking color patterns and generally laid-back personality.
In Colorado, you need a permit to keep a Gila (pronounced HE-la) monster. But only zoology-type facilities have such permits, and Ward apparently did not have permits for his lizards, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Kara Van Hoose said.
Winston may have escaped a loophole in state enforcement because the lizards were sold at reptile shows. Colorado Department of Natural Resources staff sometimes attend shows to make sure illegal animals are not sold.
Dale DeNardo, a Gila monster enthusiast and Arizona State University professor who has studied the reptile for decades, said Ward, whose last death was from a Gila monster bite around 1930, may have had cirrhosis.