Paul & Gena Farmer: Paul is our fourth. They live in Artesia, NM. Paul is a Border Patrol Agent, there. He is now a firearms Instructor. Gena keeps pretty busy sub. teaching.
They have two daughters Erika & Faith
Erika is our little miracle granddaughter. I would like to share a story about how we nearly lost her when she got rattlesnake bitten.

Erika's Miracle
On Saturday afternoon, 29 July, 2000,1 went to my sons home in Fort Hancock, Texas to baby sit. His wife was expecting their second child, which was going to be induced the following Monday. I was there to take care of my 18 month old granddaughter, Erika, while her mother was in the hospital.
I unpacked and let Erika help me do some cleaning. The trash had a strong odor, so we took it out to the back porch. A few moments later, Erika came up to her mother and me holding her hand up trying to tell us something. I looked at her hand and said, this looks like a snake bite. I thought that was impossible since she had been in the house. My daughter-in-law, Gena, and I looked around trying to find anything that could have wounded her little hand. It started swelling and turning black. I hollered for my son Paul, who was outside. When he saw Erika's hand he grabbed her and ran to a neighbors house who was a paramedic. The neighbor was not home. Erika's hand was swelling fast. They decided to take her to the doctor and get it checked out. Gena went into the bedroom to get some benadryl and her bag. She saw a rattlesnake in the middle of the bedroom floor. Her screams brought Paul in. He had just finished 2 weeks of National Guard and was wearing his heavy Army boots. The snake was quickly stomped to death.
Evidently, when I took out the trash a small rattlesnake crawled in the back doorway without me seeing it. Erika was right behind me and must have tried to pick it up. The snake bit her twice on the left hand, but there were only 3 holes instead of 4. This made the bite look odd. When I found out that she had been rattlesnake bitten I lost my cool. I have two sisters that were rattlesnake bit and my parents taught me to fear snakes.
It had been about ten minutes from the time the snake had bitten her until it was found. It was a miracle that we saw the snake. If the snake had not been out in the open Erika would not be with us today. We got in my sons truck to take her to the hospital. He was almost out of gas so we had to stop and get gas, before leaving Fort Hancock. By this time, Erika was in a lot of pain and was crying, the swelling was going up her little arm. It is about fifty-five miles from Fort Hancock to the hospital in El Paso. Paul is a Border Patrol Agent so he took his two-way work radio with him. He was able to get in contact with his dispatcher at headquarters and they dispatched an ambulance from El Paso to meet us halfway. The dispatch let us know what mile marker to pull over and meet the ambulance. When Paul found a good median cross over he stopped and let the ambulance know where we were. In a couple of minutes the ambulance was there. They took Erika and put a tourniquet on her arm.
Gena rode in the ambulance with Erika, while Paul and I followed. Paul wasn't pleased with the hospital they took her to. He was afraid she would not get the best of care there. miraculous, the head Dr. in charge of the trauma center was a snake specialist. Also, the head pediatrician on duty was an excellent surgeon. The trauma center even called in a couple more specialists to help care for Erika.
There was a shortage of snake anti-venom in El Paso. The hospital was able to get 10 vials in. They later found ten more. The closest hospital with more anti-venom was in Odessa, over 250 miles away. Paul got in contact with the border patrol station. They were prepared to fly to Odessa if necessary. Several doctors were working on Erika. They were afraid she might not make it. The swelling had climbed all the way up to her shoulder and was only inches from her heart. They were having difficulty getting a pulse in her hand. The head surgeon explained to Paul and Gena that unfortunately Erika could possibly loose her arm or at least her hand. He went on to tell them to expect the worst, the anti-venom wasn't taking effect. She started her 16th vile when the first results were seen. Normally, a full adult dosage is 10 vials. The surgeon came back and asked permission to make some pressure relief incisions in her forearm and the back of her hand. He said that the swelling was so bad that she didn't have a pulse in her fingers and they needed to do an emergency surgery. Using a special machine with a large amplifier, the head surgeon performed one last check for a pulse as they prepped her for surgery. Once again, prayers were answered. He found a pulse and no surgery was needed. Erika spent 3 days in ICU and 2 more in the hospital. Upon being released from the hospital doctors instructed that she will have what is called serum sickness sometime within the next month. Serum sickness can be dangerous. It can affect the liver, shut down the kidneys, cause extreme difficulty breathing and numerous other things. He went on to say that Erika needed to remain within 10 to 15 minutes from a hospital because of the seriousness of this serum sickness. Paul and Gena were forced to stay in a motel until the sickness was over. A week after the bite Gena had the baby. Gena's mother took care of Erika while Faith was born. About 22 days after the bite Erika started vomiting a lot. She was sick for about 3 days. Finally they got to go home.
Friends, neighbors, schools, and churches from all around supported them with a lot of prayers, gifts, and donations. God answered a lot of prayers. Erika didn't have to have any surgeries, she didn't have a bad serum sickness, and she has full use of her hand. She doesn't even have a scar. She doesn't like Doctor's or nurses and probably won't like the Doctor's office for a long time.