Rattlesnake Encounter Sends Woman to ER

A woman in San Diego had her gardening routine disrupted by an unexpected and venomous creature, resulting in an emergency room visit and a stark reminder about rattlesnake season.

Diane DiStefano was knee-deep in her backyard during a morning session of pulling milkweed when she suddenly felt a sharp sting.

“I wasn’t really thinking. I just reached out, and, well, I couldn’t see my hand,” DiStefano recounted.

Shortly after, she went back inside and noticed something concerning—two scratches that were becoming bluish-red and raised. “It really looked like a snake bite,” she noted.

Connecting the dots, DiStefano quickly made her way to Kaiser Claremont Mesa Hospital.

“Venomous snakes like rattlesnakes produce distinct stings,” she mentioned. “The marks weren’t too far apart, so it seemed clear.”

It was confirmed that a young rattlesnake was her attacker.

Doctors explained that DiStefano experienced a “dry bite,” meaning the snake struck without injecting venom. “A snake attacked me, but thankfully, there was no poison,” she recalled.

Dr. William Woo from Kaiser Permanente explained that dry bites happen in approximately 25 percent of cases.

“We assess the bite’s location, look for tissue damage, and watch for any spreading symptoms,” he added.

If venom had been injected, the costs associated with treatment could be quite daunting.

In one case, a toddler in 2024 required 30 vials of antivenom, resulting in a staggering hospital bill of $200,000—largely due to the mixed factors of production complexity and high hospital pricing.

For now, DiStefano is managing the consequences of her encounter.

The doctor informed her she had suffered “trauma” to her hand, and it may take a while for symptoms to fully resolve.

With the current warm winter in San Diego, rattlesnake encounters have surged, prompting health officials to advise immediate calmness and to call 911 for anyone who is bitten.