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A teenage California girl searching for a cell phone signal to call her mother in a rural area outside San Diego inadvertently stepped into a nest of rattlesnakes and was bitten six times, but survived.

The 16-year-old, Vera Oliphant, spent four days in the intensive care unit of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, and doctors gave her 24 vials of anti-venom after she was bitten by an adult rattlesnake and five young rattlers outside her uncle's home.

"I was trying to find a signal to call my mom and text my boyfriend," Oliphant said, after she was released from the hospital following the October 27 incident.

"I didn't see them until I already stepped on their nest and I felt them biting me."

"My vision started to go right away. First it looked like the snakes blended into the leaves and then I started seeing black spots around the edges and I started blacking out."

She returned to her uncle's home in Jamul, outside San Diego, and he immediately packed her into the car and rushed her to the emergency room, she said.

On the way, she talked to her mom and her boyfriend, who told her to stay calm so the venom wouldn't spread.

"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see them again," she said.

Doctors there administered 24 vials of anti-venom to quash the dangerous toxins, according to a hospital spokesman. Snakebites usually aren't fatal, although a handful of people die in the United States each year from snake bites, including bites from rattlesnakes.

Oliphant has recovered and will be returning to classes at Chaparral High School in El Cajon on Monday [today].

She said the next time she can't get a signal, she will handle it differently.

"Be careful where you step," she said. "If you don't need to, just wait until you are somewhere that you can call people."

Comments

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Thu May 23 13:01:04 SAST 2013 ::

Nov 12, 2012

WHP

OMG,i am scared of snakes..
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Nov 12, 2012

maneater

"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see them again," she said.
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at 16 and she is talking boyfriends..................???
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Nov 12, 2012

Missjoy

"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see them again," she said.
************************************************************************************************************************
At her age in love and I am 100% sure mom knows about the relationship and she's happy about it
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Nov 12, 2012

Right-Back-Khumalo

WHP
OMG,i am scared of snakes..
...............................................
LOL, same here. Even looking at this photo got me shaking. I always ask myself, why are we so afraid of snakes? What is it that makes it even difficult to look at a snake? I mean, it just a flesh covered with skin like other animals...
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Nov 12, 2012

Beer

Baloya ko america
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Nov 12, 2012

KatakataEmaotoAditshepe

Hm!Jehovah is great almost my dear almost.
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Nov 12, 2012

KatakataEmaotoAditshepe

@Missjoy
"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see them again," she said.
************************************************************************************************************************
At her age in love and I am 100% sure mom knows about the relationship and she's happy about it
=============
So what does it bring in your mind?

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Nov 12, 2012

MophemeKoPitori

Ok, it's official...virgins are only found in pre-school!!! 16 and having a bff?!
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Nov 12, 2012

Missjoy

KatakataEmaotoAditshepe
@Missjoy
"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see them again," she said.
************************************************************************************************************************
At her age in love and I am 100% sure mom knows about the relationship and she's happy about it
=============
So what does it bring in your mind?
**********************************************************************************************************************
That some parents are just parents because they have children, they dont deserve to be called parents coz they mislead their children they are failing their children. Gaba ruti bana babona molao
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Nov 12, 2012

Lemtongthai

There will not be a next time dear. This sort of thing does not repeat itself under the Barack Obama presidency. He is going to be sending the Navy SEALs to come and take care of the nuisance rattle snakes. Just make sure that you recover soon enough and be ready with your camera phone when the SEALS arrive.
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