Man given 54 doses of antivenom to survive rattlesnake bite in California

A California hospital ran out of antivenom after a man, who would eventually require 54 doses across two separate facilities, was bitten by a rattlesnake.

​Idaho-based Chris Howarth was checking the waterline at his parents’ home in Oroville, Northern California, when he was attacked by the reptile. The snake bit him twice, he told SFGATE, with one bite reaching a vein during the May 26 attack.​

Chris, a father of three, told Action News Now that his wife, Jenny, thought he was joking when he raced inside and said that a western rattlesnake had attacked him. Meanwhile, his children were “freaking” out, shouting: “Dad’s gonna die!”​

Jenny raced him to Oroville Hospital, but, by the time they arrived, Chris was already feeling the effects of the venom.

Chris was suffering from a numb tongue, swollen lymph nodes and difficulty breathing. According to Jenny, the snake’s venom had gone straight into his bloodstream. ​

Within an hour of arriving, he was given antivenom. However, on his third day in hospital, Chris developed a condition known as disseminated intravascular coagulation.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the condition causes a patient’s body to develop more blood clots than it needs, blocking blood vessels. As a patient’s platelets and clotting factor run out, the body is left with no way with which to control bleeding.

Chris was given platelets to manage the condition, but, by his sixth day in hospital, the facility had run out of antivenom.

​At one point, Chris began writing letters to his children “to make sure they had one last letter from Dad.”​

Eventually, Chris was helicoptered to Stanford Medical Center after using up Oroville Hospital’s supply of antivenom, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched to support his family.

Chris received 18 doses of antivenom during his stay at the Stanford facility, the campaign page says. Those doses were in addition to the 36 doses he had received at Oroville Hospital.

While being treated, he also received “Cryo (sic), platelet and plasma transfusions” and underwent CT scans.

​After 12 days in the hospital, Chris is at home with his family, the page says. However, he will be unable to work for an “unknown amount of time.”

According to National Capital Poison Center, rattlesnakes are the most venomous domestic snakes in the United States. Most bites require hospitalization and antivenom treatment. ​