Idaho man bit by rattlesnake in Northern California recovering

(KRON) — An Idaho man is recovering after a life-threatening rattlesnake bite during a family visit to Oroville, Northern California. Chris Howarth spent nearly two weeks in intensive care following the incident in his mother’s garden.

During his 12-day stay in intensive care, Howarth received 54 vials of anti-venom and multiple blood transfusions, split between six days at Oroville Hospital and six days after being flown to Stanford.

Six weeks after the incident, he is approximately 80% recovered.

Howarth initially believed the bites were a prick from a thorn or a “star thistle or one of those goat heads.” He described the sensation as feeling “like getting your blood drawn.”

“I think I got bit twice. I said ‘ow’ again and ‘ow’ again. It almost felt like getting your blood drawn,” said Howarth. Howarth also noted he “didn’t hear it at all” when his father went to inspect the area and observed the snake shaking its tail without making noise.

As his wife drove him to the hospital, his condition worsened.

“On the way there, he was started kind of feeling some numbness and tingling in his mouth and his tongue so I knew we needed to get to the closest hospital,” said Jenny Howarth.

Howarth is still experiencing lingering effects from the bite, including swelling, soreness and fatigue.

“My leg is still kind of sore and tender, my ankle still swells, I barely got able to tie a shoe just a few days ago and also still having lingering effects of fatigue,” Howarth said.

California’s Poison Control system has received 77 rattlesnake-related calls this year, with experts reporting encounters are occurring earlier and more frequently. Dr. Rafa Lima, an emergency physician at Kaiser Permanente in San Leandro, explained that rattlesnake venom “destroys local tissue and causes a lot of pain and swelling.”

Dr. Lima advised immediate medical attention for suspected venomous snake bites. “If you are bitten by a snake with a rattle or you suspect is venomous, you should really get care immediately,” Dr. Lima said.

He also dispelled common myths, stating, “There’s a common myth that you should just tourniquet up the wound and bind it and mobilize it, or even try to suck the venom out but all that does is delays the time to get treatment and the longer the venom is in the tissue, the worst prognosis.”

Howarth mentioned that the weather conditions were unexpected for a rattlesnake encounter.

“That day and even the day before, it kind of been cooler and it had been raining so we weren’t expecting to see a rattlesnake,” she said.

Howarth hopes his experience highlights that rattlesnakes pose a risk in garden areas, not just hiking trails, even during cooler weather. Howarth hopes to return to work next week.

Those who want to donate to a GoFundMe set up for Howarth can do so here.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.