her mother in a rural area outside San Diego inadvertently stepped
into a nest of rattlesnakes and was bitten six times, but survived.
The 16-year-old, Vera Oliphant, spent four days in the intensive care
unit of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, and doctors gave her 24 vials of
anti-venom after she was bitten by an adult rattlesnake and five young
rattlers outside her uncle's home.
"I was trying to find a signal to call my mom and text my boyfriend,"
Oliphant said, after she was released from the hospital following the
October 27 incident.
"I didn't see them until I already stepped on their nest and I felt
them biting me."
"My vision started to go right away. First it looked like the snakes
blended into the leaves and then I started seeing black spots around
the edges and I started blacking out."
She returned to her uncle's home in Jamul, outside San Diego, and he
immediately packed her into the car and rushed her to the emergency
room, she said.
On the way, she talked to her mom and her boyfriend, who told her to
stay calm so the venom wouldn't spread.
"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see
them again," she said.
Doctors there administered 24 vials of anti-venom to quash the
dangerous toxins, according to a hospital spokesman. Snake bites
usually aren't fatal, although a handful of people die in the United
States each year from snake bites, including bites from rattlesnakes.
Oliphant has recovered and will be returning to classes at Chaparral
High School in El Cajon on Monday[today].
She said the next time she can't get a signal,she will handle it differently.
"Be careful where you step,"she said."If you don't need to, just wait
until you are somewhere that you can call people."
