A medical emergency unfolded for one family just before a Colorado wedding, when a 2-year-old set to be the flower girl was bitten twice in the thigh by a rattlesnake. She is now recovering.
Before first responders got there, the child's mother, who was eight months pregnant, began CPR.
What happened?
The Robertson family had come from Kansas to Bennett, Colorado, and were staying at a rental property before the wedding weekend. On Monday, Quinn and her mother, Colleen, went to look at horses near the property, and Quinn stepped on a rattlesnake.
Denver7 reported that Brett Robertson said his wife "heard a little cry from Quinn" after the bite. He later described the horrific scene, saying, "Watching your daughter lay in a driveway out in the middle of nowhere on her back, going in and out of consciousness, watching your wife, your 8-month pregnant wife, give her CPR and chest compressions mouth-to-mouth."
After she was airlifted to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Quinn was treated with 30 vials of anti-venom and monitored around the clock. Brett said the drive to the hospital was "the hardest drive I'll ever make."
In updates shared through the family's GoFundMe, the family said Quinn had been bitten "twice, very deep and lots of tissue damage," though she was later moved out of the pediatric intensive care unit and was "no longer fighting for her life."
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Other updates showed Quinn and her parents returning home, and a photo of the tough little 2-year-old doing PT and "making a rapid comeback." They said that she is running again and the "venom in her leg has drastically reduced to a light bruise with the bite wound leaving just a slight scar."
Why does it matter?
Rattlesnake bites are medical emergencies for anyone, but they can be especially dangerous for small children because of their size and how quickly venom can move through the body.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says encounters with rattlesnakes increase during warmer months, especially in April, May, and June. Larry Butterfield of Colorado Parks and Wildlife said snakes are often out early as temperatures rise and that most bites happen when people get too close, sometimes without realizing a snake is nearby.
Encounters can happen beyond hiking trails, including in driveways, near homes, and around short-term rentals that overlap with wildlife habitat. In many cases, the animals are reacting to a surprise encounter. As Butterfield put it, "It's doing that because it's scared, and it's trying to protect itself."
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What can I do?
Butterfield said it is wise to hike in groups and keep children and pets close. If you hear a rattle, stop moving and look around rather than stepping forward. "Use all your senses when you're out there," he said.
If someone is bitten, Butterfield said the priorities are to stay calm, limit movement, and remove jewelry or tight clothing near the bite area. Butterfield also warned against old movie-style myths: "You don't want to ever cut or try to extract the venom like you see in movies, that's a myth. You do not want to use ice or heat or any type of tourniquet."
He added: "You don't want to try to capture or kill the snake either."
As for little Quinn, her dad said, "She's a tough, tough cookie … She's a warrior." Her family has also set up a GoFundMe to help cover recovery-related costs.
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