Rattlesnake Bite Story

Alex

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!


Comments (9)

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Newest 5 Comments

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.
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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.
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When I was in school I had run-ins with the Black Studies dep't, since I was a Classics major and they mistreated ancient history, esp. that of Egypt, for very political purposes, ignoring established history, archaeology, and just generally inventing facts. But a course on W.E.B. Du Bois makes a lot of sense. Sure, he's controversial (mostly to white conservatives), but the man had a huge legacy and a far longer career as an activist than MLK, so the course makes sense.

The complaint that schools don't teach courses on the teachings of Christ in religious studies departments is absurd. There are plenty of courses on Christianity in religious studies departments where one can learn about the teachings of the religion including the parts Jesus said, and the various interpretations of those teachings over time. They study the topic academically, so they don't proselytize, but they certainly exist in the typical religious studies department.

The author seems to be one of those people who is very attached to his economic, political, and religious dogmas and is upset that universities have the academic freedom to teach other views. These kind of articles make the rounds pretty often, but they are usually a bit more veiled in their bias. If you want to do a better job of hiding your bias all you need to do is list off the more absurd things that go down in the Lit. Crit world - touch on some classes that delve into weirder corners of Marxist Critical Theory, Queer-Theory, and find one of the zanier courses on a Postmodernist theory of science, then list off a few salacious courses in Human Sexuality, and you've got it covered without wearing your politics on your sleeve.
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Yikes, this is an appalling article. Please explain why on earth is it "outrageous" to study transvestism or other non-normative forms of gender expression. Or some of the other things the author is apparently outraged by, including "capitalism and human welfare" and "labor, race, and gender."

Really disappointing to see bigoted drivel like this highlighted on Neatorama.
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I am really confused why Neatorama would be promoting this kind of bigoted article. This is pretty distressing to me. How are college courses on race, nationality, gender, and sexuality 'outrageous' to Neatorama or it's readership.

please explain the through process behind the inclusion of this article.
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