Woman Tried to Call 911 Three Times After Being Bitten by Rattlesnake Before Husband Told Her to ‘Get in the Car’

Woman Tried to Call 911 Three Times After Being Bitten by Rattlesnake Before Husband Told Her to ‘Get in the Car’ https://ift.tt/znjPUmb

“Had my husband not been home, and I was here alone, I don’t know what would have happened,” Linda Martin said

NEED TO KNOW

• Linda Martin was bitten by a rattlesnake while barefoot outside her home in Southern California
• She began experiencing symptoms quickly, but struggled to call 911 due to poor cell service in her area
• Martin credits her husband for driving her to the hospital in time

A California woman is thankful to be alive after being bitten by a rattlesnake while gardening outside her home.

Linda Martin of Santa Clarita Valley was tending to her roses when the reptile bit one of her bare feet on the evening of Saturday, July 25, she told CBS News Los Angeles in an on-camera interview.

She yelled out and immediately reached for her foot before she checked the bush and “saw the rattler.”

The venom began working quickly, according to Martin.

“Within 30 to 45 seconds, I started feeling tingling in my fingertips,” she told the news station. “It moved into my jaw, my cheeks, my tongue.”

Inside the house, Martin grabbed her cellphone and tried to call 911 multiple times, but the calls didn’t go through. By the time she made a third call, she said her husband told her to just “get in the car” and he drove her himself.

It took them about 10 minutes to get to the emergency room of Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, where she was able to receive the necessary dosage of antivenom.

“Had my husband not been home, and I was here alone, I don’t know what would have happened,” said Martin who added that in the future, she won’t garden without boots — and may have to look into getting a landline in case of emergency.

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According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, rattlesnakes — usually found in arid deserts, rocky scrublands, and open grasslands, as well as forests and agricultural fields — are typically not aggressive, though bites can occur if the venomous animals feel threatened.

If bitten, symptoms can develop within minutes or hours and their bites can be dangerous or even life-threatening, according to the California Poison Control System.

Prevention remains the best way to avoid dangerous encounters, with officials urging hikers to stay alert and to avoid interacting with wildlife.