Mountain Biker Survives Rattlesnake Bite, Rides 30 Minutes for Help
A rattlesnake bit mountain biker Jim Watkins after he crashed and fell into a bush in Arizona.
The 75-year-old then rode for 30 minutes back to the trailhead, where he called Poison Control.
Watkins recovered in the hospital, receiving 14 vials of antivenin.
A mountain biker’s crash on an Arizona trail last week almost turned deadly when a rattlesnake bit him in the leg.
Jim Watkins, 75, was riding his new bike with a friend on the Apache Wash Trail in Phoenix when he lost his balance on a steep hill. After trying to unclip, he fell into a bush where the snake had been hiding.
“He was rattling pretty angrily,” Watkins told ABC News. “Once I got bitten, it just felt like a bee sting, so I was thinking, ‘This wasn’t too bad.’”
When Watkins realized it was a sidewinder rattlesnake, however, he and his friend got back on their bikes and rode another 30 minutes to the trailhead, where they called Poison Control. (Ironically, the stretch of trail where they’d been riding was called the Sidewinder Loop.)
At first, Watkins declined to go to the emergency room, citing a lack of pain. But Poison Control soon convinced him otherwise. It was a smart move: Watkins would spend two nights in the hospital and receive 14 vials of antivenin. A few hours after he arrived, he said, his leg began to swell up and severe pain set in.
Watkins noted that he’s been a mountain biker for 25 years. “I probably seen 10-12 rattlesnakes,” he said. “It’s rare to spot one, let alone be bitten by one.”
According to the National Capital Poison Center, snakebite season starts with the onset of warm weather. If you get bitten, Poison Control recommends these tips:
Don’t panic. Snakebites can be treated, and bites generally are less dangerous than many people assume.
Don’t risk another bite by trying to capture or kill the snake. If you can take a picture or describe the snake, that’s good but not essential.
Don’t use old first aid remedies: no tourniquet, no ice, no electric shocks, no cutting the wound, and no sucking out the venom. None of these “treatments” helps and most of them make things worse.
Do stay quiet and still.
Do keep the arm or leg (usual sites for a snakebite) at the level of the heart.
Do remove any jewelry, watches, and tight clothing from the area of the bite.
Do wash the area gently with soap and water.
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