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A Southern California family launched a GoFundMe after their 3-year-old daughter was bitten by a rattlesnake while grabbing an Amazon package from their yard, adding to a growing list of snake bites in the Golden State this year.
Manuel Barajas lives in a rural area of Santa Clarita, roughly 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, with his wife Lynn and their 3-year-old daughter, Addy, per the GoFundMe. The father wrote on the fundraiser page that while he was recently out of town for work, an Amazon package arrived at the family residence and was dropped over a fence into their yard.
Lynn, knowing the package was a gift for Addy, told her to get it.
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“When Addy saw it, she excitedly ran to pick up her gift," Barajas wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Tragically, a southern pacific rattlesnake was hiding under the brown padded envelope and bit Addy’s left hand.”
While the little girl is recovering well, the incident required several antivenom treatments and two nights in a pediatric intensive care unit, resulting in “significant medical bills,” according to the Barajas' family’s official GoFundMe page.
Antivenom treatments and a stay in the hospital
On the day of the incident, Lynn rushed Addy to a nearby grocery store, where they met emergency first responders. Addy was then taken to a local hospital and received her first dose of antivenom treatment.
She was transferred to another hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit. There, she spent the next two nights and received two more doses of antivenom treatment.
“Now, we are facing significant medical bills from Addy’s hospital stay, antivenom treatments, and the pediatric ICU,” Barajas wrote on the GoFundMe page. “On top of that, I lost about a week of work to be with Lynn and Addy during this crisis, which has added to our financial strain.”
As of July 21, the GoFundMe has raised over $7,000, although the family hopes to reach its donation goal of $16,000
Addy is ‘doing great now,’ family says
Speaking to local media outlet KTLA, Barajas said Addy is “doing great now,” and is "about 70% recovered.” He added, “She’s still bruised on her left hand where she was bitten. Her spirits are high, her demeanor is great, but she keeps asking why she was bitten by a snake.”
The father told the outlet that he wanted to share Addy’s story to raise awareness of how dangerous rattlesnakes in the region are, and to educate residents about the best hospital units for treating snake bites.
Snake bites across California
Addy’s experience is just one of several snake bites across California in recent months.
In early July, Idaho resident Chris Howarth and his family were visiting his parents in California when he suffered two rattlesnake bites in his parents' garden, according to previous reporting from USA TODAY. He was hospitalized for six days and received 36 rounds of antivenom before being airlifted to Stanford Medical Center.
Meanwhile, in April, a 78-year-old woman died after being bitten several times by a venomous snake in northern California. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office previously told USA TODAY that the woman, who was not identified, was walking in a rural area April 8 when she was bitten three times by the snake. Authorities also did not identify the type of snake. Her death marked the third fatal snake bite in California this year.
Not even a month before that, the Ventura County Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that a 46-year-old woman died March 19 from a rattlesnake bite. The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said the woman's cause of death was determined to be rattlesnake venom toxicity.
Nationwide, between 7,000 and 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency added that roughly five of those people die each year.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen, Julia Gomez / USA TODAY; Cheri Carlson / Ventura County Star, USA TODAY Network
Drew Pittock covers national trending news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rattlesnake bites 3-year-old retrieving Amazon package
