PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN Jeremy DeLeon in China as an intern.

Lehigh Acres resident Al DeLeon, past chairman of the Greater Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, says he can sit back today and think positively of his unplanned trip to the Far East.

Officials in China recently called about his 22-year-old son, Jeremy A. DeLeon. A college intern on a trip to China, he had been critically injured from snake bites.

During his first few days, he was hospitalized because of two bites from a poisonous snake that he received while traveling with the other interns and a tourist guide on the Great Wall of China.

Jeremy DeLeon is back in the United States now attending school in Gainesville, but a few weeks ago, he arrived in Beijing, China, with several other interns.

On his second day in the country, he enjoyed seeing the Great Wall. They ate barbecue and built a camp fire. There were miles to go.

PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN A tourist guide holds the snake that bit a Lehigh Acres college student who was interning in China.

Later that evening, DeLeon was bitten by a snake on the left hand and right foot. He was rushed down the wall with a tour guide, who drove him to the city to find medical help.

After three hours, the fourth hospital they visited was able to treat the bites.

“He was told he could have died had he not received the right help after being hospitalized,” Al DeLeon said.

“I spent five days of treatment in the hospital before they would discharge me,” Jeremy DeLeon said.

Jeremy’s father received the call about his son at 10:45 p.m. on a Saturday. He said he was terrified and devastated by the news.

“I began my emergency plan to go to him with my other two sons the following Tuesday. I was in Miami getting our passports updated on an emergency basis and by the end of the day, we had our passports from Miami,” he said.

“I overnighted the passports to an international visa company in Texas and by the following Saturday, we had our passports and visas and we boarded the plane a few days later and were off to China,” he said.

Jeremy DeLeon was well enough to leave the hospital to attend introduction day and a welcome banquet with the interns.

By the time the internship began, he attended the festivities. He said his foot had healed, but his hand was still not functional.

On the following weekend, his family came to visit. They went to the Summer Palace, Pearl and Silk Markets and to Wangfujing Street.

“When we arrived it was a joyous occasion. My son was released from the hospital with his medication and we proceeded to have a vacation of a lifetime, all because of these circumstances.

“We figured we were on the other side of the world, so why not take my two other sons and myself and visit Tokyo, Japan,” Al DeLeon said. “We three really had a great time.”

While in China, Jeremy DeLeon worked mostly in event management, inventory tracking and website editing as an intern.

“I networked with and interacted with customers at company sponsored events such as expat/networking, international fashion shows, art festivals, salon events, charity galas and wine tasting,” he said. “I attended a weekly intermediate Mandarin Chinese language course every Monday.”

At the conclusion of his internship, he attended a farewell dinner with other interns and received certificates of completion.

Al DeLeon said this was something they will never forget.

“I put my life and business on hold. That is what it took for me to come to my son’s aid. I would do this again, in a New York minute.

“There is something about going to your children immediately when they are hurt or suffering,” he said. “I had the worst feeling that night when I got the call and could not be there, but God is good and he made it possible for us to get to China.”

He added that the locals were wonderful to his family.

“Even though we had a language barrier, communication and understanding was made possible through our ability to connect with one person to another,” Al DeLeon. “I see life differently now and I appreciate so much more how fortunate are to live in America.”