Rattlesnake Bite
On July 21, 2002, just after my 13th birthday, I was bitten by a Northern Pacific rattlesnake (the snake was originally identified as a Western Diamondback rattlesnake, but that species is not found near Yosemite). I was located on a trail in a hiking area near Yosemite National Park, California. The bite occurred when I was sitting on a small boulder at a distance of 4.5 miles from the trailhead with my cabin group at camp. I had my arms dangling at my side, and a 5 foot long rattlesnake bit me in the middle of my left palm.
From this point, an amazing rescue took place, taking 4 hours to transport me the 4.5 miles to the trailhead. The camp director had previously called the hospital, and a helicopter was waiting at the trailhead. During the 30 minute helicopter ride I was going in and out of consciousness, having trouble keeping my eyes open. We arrived at the Modesto, CA hospital, where the doctor in the emergency room decided that my case was too severe to treat at that medical center. He told me this, which was the last thing I heard before going unconscious.
Although I was unconscious for approximately the next 24 hours, I have heard about the following events from my parents.
I was taken from the Modesto hospital to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, the trauma center for Northern California. My snake bite was determined to be too severe for Modesto to deal with. At the UC Davis hospital I underwent a fasciotomy, which involved the doctors cutting open my arm from the palm up to about the middle of my biceps. This was to relieve the extreme pressure that had built up in my arm from the rattlesnake venom, making my arm as hard as a rock until the fasciotomy.
I spent the next 35 days in the UC Davis hospital, had 8 surgeries performed for cleaning out the dead tissue from my arm, and finally had a skin graft from my leg to close up my arm, which had remained open for 30 days after the fasciotomy until the skin graft surgery. That is 10 surgeries in total at UC Davis.
I was released from the hospital on August 24, 2002, had 4 months of intense physical therapy, and flew to Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina for a follow-up surgery. This was a vascular flap surgery, during which they took a chunk of skin and muscle from my back, attached its blood vessels to the ones in my arm using microsurgery, and then stitched it to my arm. Although 2 emergency surgeries were required within 24 hours on account of blood loss, the vascular flap was a success, and after 6 more months of physical therapy, my hand had had a significant improvement in mobility from when I left UC Davis and could move each finger only 2-3 millimeters.
My hand now has fully mobility and is about 80% as strong as it was before, thanks to my Dad and I resuming our rock climbing after a 1 year break due to the lack of strength in my left hand. I use it for about 90% of the things I used to do with my left hand (I am right handed). 13 surgeries, $700,000 worth of helicopter flights, surgeries, and hospital stays (paid by my insurance of course), and 20 months later, I am very happy with the outcome of this experience and my good fortune of getting through all this without any significant loss.
This is the forth time I have seen this same set of pictures with each person claiming that it is their arm. If this is you, then others are using your pictures. If these are not your picture then this is a fraud
thats the grosses thing i have ever seen but cool
That’s amazing, man.
Dude, that’s pretty nasty.
That’s an incredible story.
Thank God for Insurance.
Its a good thing they got good pictures.
Is the last picture how it looks today?
the power of the human body to cope with this sort of massive reconstructiring amazes me, thanks for sharing your ordeal
WHOAH! sweet!
I saw the pictures while eating raw steak. It’s amazing what a little snake bite will put you through. Good job.
woah…i wasn’t grossed out actually…it intrigued me.
wondering if this is a sign that i should become a doctor. >>
Oh my word, what a great picture accountment. Thansk
DAMN.
Wow this is incredible and the pictures so graphic :S — after the fasciotomy I presume your arm wasn’t just left open with the muscle ever present so how was it kept protected from well, just the air?
Hi,
I am glad you are doing fine. From your pictures, I can see you had good muscles in your lower arm. But because of the snake bite and resulting surgeries, you were loosing your muscle mass. I hope you are back to where you were before the bite. Be careful in the future.
Sagar
What a testimony to our medical professionals! Your are one fortunate soul.
I had a friend in the 6th grade, who was bit by an actual Western Diamondback, on the lower right leg. This happened in Texas in the summer of 1966. He spent approximately 6 weeks in the hospital. Luckily for him he was 20 minutes from the hospital. The town was Jacksboro Texas. This is one of two very famous towns that hold rattlesnake roundups every year to capture snakes for anti-venom (and eating). His leg was black and blue for most of those six weeks. He was able to keep his leg.
I wish you the best in your continued recovery and hope your website is a wakeup call to people who do not understand the dangerous nature of these animals.
One question though, when you sat down, did he not rattle at you? Or, do you think that you suprised him rather quickly? I been around a lot of Western Diamondbacks, and they will almost always warn you, if possible. If you can let me know what happened in your case.
Again good luck!
Steve Johnson
Ugh, what delightful pictures.
Glad you’re making a good recovery though.
Thank God..u survive…:) mwah
Did you win a medal?
Fucking insane…..your stronger than any man i know of
Those are some seriously fucked up pictures, *shudders*
In the last one your arm still looks pretty messed up, like there’s some weird bulge from your forearm, to your wrist, is it still like that?
A different angle would be good if it is.
Picture 5 is pretty cool though.
This is sick, and u posted pics… wdf dude
Amazing. Looks you’re lucky to have that arm. Those guys at Davis know their stuff.
Man, what a great story! I too was bitten by a Rattler, but he missed my skin, and got tangled in my pants and socks. I managed to stomp him a few times in my panic. THANK GOODNESS he missed!!
I wasn’t bitten, by a snake, I was bitten by a telephone pole. I crashed my motorcycle into a telephone pole and broke my head in 7 places. 9 months, nearly a million dollars, and lots of therapy, I am still riding (with a helmet).
I can empathize with your experience and journey! cherish what you have today!
Wow! Yet another reason i fear snakes. That’s just intense!
Did it drop any good loot?
Sure glad we ain’t gots them sunnbish critters up here.
Nice Pictures. But a total crock of BS. Rattlesnake bites are Hemotoxic and not Necrotic. A Hemotoxic venom will not cause flesh to be deteriorated like this. Really nice pictures though. This is more than likely the result of a spider bite, probable suspect a brown recluse. But again, nice set of pictures, just the incorrect culprit.
“Nice Pictures. But a total crock of BS. Rattlesnake bites are Hemotoxic and not Necrotic. A Hemotoxic venom will not cause flesh to be deteriorated like this. Really nice pictures though. This is more than likely the result of a spider bite, probable suspect a brown recluse. But again, nice set of pictures, just the incorrect culprit.”
If you read the story it’d explain what happened…it bit him in the hand…the from there the docters had to cut open the arm to “bleed” the venom out. This is 100% Legit process…it’s not a very entertaining thing…I was bit by a DiamondBack rattler in AZ back in ‘99. It didn’t get NEARLY as sevear but it wasn’t a plesant stay in the hospital for damn sure…
You are one lucky SOB…that should have killed you after the first 5 hours of that venom MAX…god loves you odviously… XD
You should publish a warning about how gruesome these photos are.
There are problems with these pictures. No surgon this side of transulvania would open your entire arm for a problem with your hand. Also In the first picture I have to wonder how your left hand got on your right side. Maybe the doc didnt tell you about the arm transplant? The wrist to the shoulder looks dead? Real skin and muscle doesnt look this and black infection doesnt magicly stop at the wrist? Nice story but I think it belongs on the fiction shelf.
Those pics were so gross, but admirable…WOW…You went through a life-changing and awesome (in the literal sense of the word, ok?) event. Nature isn’t for us to just look at, y’know….it’s the little critters’ home! Take care of yourself and keep building strength!
bleh.
“Paid for by my insurance company of course…”
Good thing your HMO didn’t screw you over like they do on half their customers.
mikemike: the fasciotomy was a necessary operation. the point is to not let the hand choke itself by swelling.
Mikemike: You obviously don’t have any hx of a medical education. Or have common sense, for that matter. One of the pictures was taken from a different angle - still the left hand. BTW, learn how to spell. People might be more inclined to believe your BS then.
I don’t know about California but I know that in Idaho 90% of all rattlesnake bites involve retards and alcohol. The other 10% are people who are too stupid to back off when they hear the damn rattle.
mikemike: Your way off mon. Have spent many hours in the gross lab, and know what it looks like in there. There is no discrepancy in the pics. This is the real thing, and a fine, fine job. Wish I knew who the surgeon was…
bd
Ewwww,
Glad your pretty much recovered
x