ALPINE, Calif. (KGTV) – An afternoon of yard work turned dangerous for a California woman after she was bitten by a rattlesnake, sending her to the hospital with symptoms that surprised medical staff.
Tracey Goodman, 55, was collecting weeds Friday afternoon in the front yard of her home in Alpine when she encountered a rattlesnake, which is a venomous species of snake, near a retaining wall.
“I was putting weeds in my bucket, and I felt this really sharp bite,” she said.
Ring video captured the moment of intense pain following the bite, as Goodman exclaimed, “Ow!” and added some colorful language.
“My frustration had me going around in circles saying a bad word,” she said.
Goodman called neighbors, who contacted the fire department and emergency services. Once she was at the hospital, her condition quickly deteriorated, her symptoms growing alarming.
“I noticed my arm and veins turning neon yellow. My mouth and tongue were swollen,” Goodman said. “My lips twitching, then my eyes and head started twitching. The doctors were shocked. They had never even seen videos of that.”
Her symptoms became even more severe as time passed.
“Then, all of a sudden, there was a huge wave. My entire body started to spasm, head to toe,” she said.
Goodman spent two days in the intensive care unit and received two doses of antivenom before she was released Sunday.
“I have tissue damage, tingling in my left foot,” she said. “The venom is still in me.”
Now, recovering at home, Goodman is reflecting on the experience and what she could have done differently as she prepares for future yard work.
“What I shouldn’t have done was run in circles, which can increase venom to your heart faster,” she said. “Wear the leather gloves all the time. Take a stick and look around first.”
The snake that bit Goodman, believed to be a juvenile Southern Pacific rattlesnake, was never found.
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