B. D., you're right to be suspicious. This does seem to be a reasonable explanation as reported by the Tennessean's Anne Paine, who is a very accomplished outdoor person and a careful reporter:
"When ready to leave, Ward reached to pick up his paddle. He was talking and looking back at his friend.
“I felt something brush my knuckles and thought it was some vegetation or twigs.”
He changed hands and reached with his left hand, still not looking, and felt a sharp pang.
“When I lifted up my hand, surprise, there was a snake attached to it,” he said, holding up his bandaged member.
He grabbed the snake behind the head and pried it off, flinging it to the ground. He hit it with his paddle out of frustration, he said, killing it. He told Greek to call 911 and sat down in the cool river water to stay calm, as excruciating pain began to set in.
“It felt like someone crushing my fingers in a vise,” he said.
A canoe and kayak outfitter sent a powerboat down the river to pick them up and take them to an ambulance. From there Ward was rushed to a helipad where Air Evac took him to Vanderbilt.
Ward reported that a cottonmouth had bitten him, but Vanderbilt’s Williams said she didn’t need to know that. From the swelling and the tissue beginning to break down, it was obviously a poisonous bite — on both hands.
Bite victim may need skin grafts
Antivenin, which stops venom from continuing to damage tissue, was administered. The same antidote works for any poisonous
Tennessee snake because they’re all pit vipers. Both of Ward’s arms swelled, and he needed surgery during his weeklong hospital say.