Rattlesnake Bite Story

Posted by Alex in Medicine on August 15, 2007 at 1:08 am


In 2002, just after his 13th birthday, Justin Schwartz was bitten by a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. Here’s his story, complete with gruesome photos of the wound and more than 10 surgeries he endured to finally get well again.

Link to story | Photo gallery (warning: very gruesome photos) - Thanks Inna!



Previous post
this post? Please email this            
Next post

FROM THE NEATORAMA ONLINE STORE » more



COMMENT

9 comments to "Rattlesnake Bite Story"

  1. JackMac
    August 15th, 2007 at 7:13 am

    Jesus Christ!

  2. Sid Morrison
    August 15th, 2007 at 7:16 am

    Man, those pics are so sick, I think I’d like to see some “kid with fork in nose” images to clear my head.

  3. CheeseDuck
    August 15th, 2007 at 8:35 am

    Ow.

  4. Dim67
    August 15th, 2007 at 9:51 am

    He’s lucky to be alive. Imagine if he got bit in the face… :-(

  5. biltmore
    August 15th, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    Cripes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  6. kerozene
    August 15th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

    Yeesh, painful. At first I thought that was some sort of brace on his palm (Its a skin graft).

  7. Mis
    August 15th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    Good thing he wasn’t ‘relieving’ himself instead!

  8. Adam Stanhope
    August 15th, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    I was bitten by a “brown recluse” spider on my left hand a few years ago. I might be able to dig up some grotesque photos of what followed for me, however this kid’s situation was clearly far more serious.

    I almost lost a finger. It looks like this kid nearly lost his arm - or his life.

  9. Snakelover
    August 16th, 2007 at 12:37 pm

    While this was an extremely serious case, I’d like to point out that in general rattlesnakes are not very dangerous animals. They are in reality shy, retiring creatures and almost always give fair warning, in the form of a buzzing rattle and coiled body posture, when they are aggravated enough to bite. They typically do not bite unless severely provoked, and even then they seldom discharge their full dose of venom. The location of the bite, as well as the victim’s youth and perhaps the size of the snake, conspired together in this case. I’d hate to see anyone using this example as an excuse to arbitrarily kill rattlesnakes on sight.

    That said, I feel bad for this boy. It seems like he was a victim of really bad luck more than anything else. Also, UC Davis Med Center has notoriously substandard care; I’m not surprised it took him 10 surgeries to get better.


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. Comments aren't censored, but those that are abusive or off-topic may be edited or deleted.


Stay updated on the comments with Comment RSS