A schoolboy has managed to survive one of the most dramatic bike crashes after falling off and landing on top of a 30-inch rattlesnake which sunk its fangs into his chest.
Ethan Vogel, from Golden, Colorado, was out on an early evening bike ride with his dad Zach on June 6 when his wheel clipped a boulder and he fell off his mountain bike. Unfortunately, he toppled onto a hidden prairie rattlesnake just off the trail.
The snake, which was lying just off the trail on North Table Mountain, chomped down on the 11-year-old's right chest, near his armpit. Horrified, Zach ditched his bike and raced over to his son.
Ethan was standing in shock with a bloodied t-shirt. When Zach lifted his son's top, the 41-year-old spotted two large puncture wounds.
Gym owner and strength coach Zach lay Ethan on his side, cradling his head and keeping him calm as he called 911 for an ambulance. While Zach was terrified his son could die, he credits his regular ice baths and breathing techniques for helping him and Ethan stay calm.
Within 19 minutes Ethan, whose hands and face had started to go numb, was blue-lighted to hospital where he was given antivenom and other medication to stablise him.
After 36 hours and 16 vials of antivenom, Ethan was discharged from hospital and returned home where he continues to recover.
"I love mountain biking and being out on the trails," explained Ethan. "I fell off my bike, I only saw the snake when I got back up.
"I was hoping it was a thorn, then we heard the rattle after it bit me. I was scared when I realised it had bitten me and then I couldn't feel my face or my hands. Dad kept me calm, it was very helpful.
"It was a little bit shocking to see the picture of the bite mark. I felt quite poorly in hospital, I'm very relieved to still be here. I've got another bike ride planned soon."
The pair had set off at around 5pm on June 6, and were 90 minutes into their ride when Ethan fell off his bike and onto the snake.
"Ethan had been wanting to get out for a ride the entire day," recalled Zach. "When I wrapped up with work we decided to go out for a ride just before dinner.
"He was really adamant about going out to the place I had first taken him on a mountain bike ride many years ago. We've always been aware of rattlesnakes.
"My boys grew up reading snake books and wanted to know about the biology where we live so we knew the risks when we went out. We had seen multiple rattlesnakes on rides before, so we had an inkling of what to do.
"We're not afraid of rattlesnakes, we're just very aware of them and know the dangers. We learned to keep our distance and listen for the sound.
"We were an hour and a half into our ride and we were riding side by side for most of the ride. I decided to let him lead the way after we took a picture together.
"Ethan looked at his watch and he said 'Dad we're making really good time'. I said 'yeah we are buddy'.
"He took off riding, I was right behind him and we rode for just another few minutes and he came across a couple of boulders - one on the left and the other on the right.
"There was a little dirt track in between and he did a great job. His front wheel went between them and then his back wheel caught the edge [of a boulder]. It lifted his bike up and because he was moving pretty slowly he got off balance.
"He went to put his feet down to stabilise himself and he couldn't reach the ground so he tipped over and fell just off trail and landed right on top of the rattlesnake.
"There was no warning, the snake, which was over 30 inches, couldn't sense that he was there and he scared the snake. It bit him right in the chest.
"He jumped back to me and he was hoping he hadn't been bitten but I think he knew that he had because I saw the look on his face. I set my bike down and jumped over to the builder he was on, I looked down and I saw the rattlesnake sitting right there.
"He had already started to pull his shirt, which had blood on, up. I looked at his chest and there were two fang marks there. We took his shirt off, moved away from the rattlesnake and at that point I called 911."
Zach, who is also dad to Tristan, 13, and Aleah, 8, faced an anxious 19-minute wait for the ambulance to arrive which was flagged down by passing cyclists.
A passerby let Zach borrow his phone so he could tell his 46-year-old wife Heather, an elementary school teacher, what had happened.
"I was as terrified as any parent would be because you just don't know how much time they have, I didn't want to lose him," he said.
"There's other children that have been bitten that have collapsed in minutes and they've been unable to resuscitate them. He's not trained to handle that level of stress and he knows how dangerous snakes are so he was afraid for his life.
"I was just consoling him and making sure he knew that it was going to be ok. I just knew the most important thing was to keep his heart rate under control and not panic.
"He was lying down on his side and I was holding his head. at that point Ethan's face and hands were numb and his eyes were all itchy.
"The neurotoxin was working really fast and then he started throwing up, his heartbeat lying down was 165 beats per minute. We've been doing ice baths for a long time, whether he's been in the ice bath with me or has just seen me do it, so we talk about it a lot.
"They have allowed us to very much get our breathing under control to accept the pain, to acknowledge it, and to learn to be calm in the midst of discomfort. He understood it was like an ice bath so he took some really deep breaths to calm himself down.
"I credit the ice bath training for helping keep him calm and save his life, I think that mindset really helped. He had a reason to fight and he trusted me. I was just praying to God that nothing bad would happen and that I wasn't going to lose my son in my arms."
Zach explained that as soon as ambulance staff arrived, they administered medication and drove him to St Anthony's Hospital in Littleton, Colorado, before he was transferred to Children's Hospital Colorado. There, staff ordered antivenom and administered medication to help stabilise Ethan.
"The doctors at St Anthony's were phenomenal," said Zach, "they didn't waste any time ordering antivenom.
"They put him on a 90-minute slow drip. We just watched and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible Poison control showed up and they wanted to look at the wound and figure out where the venom was moving to.
"It had already spread underneath his armpit near his lymph nodes and around to his spine."
Now back at home recovering, Ethan is doing well and expected to make a full recovery soon. "He's doing really well and he should be given the all-clear," explained Zach.
"There isn't any concern from the doctor, he's expected to make a full recovery in three weeks. It's not put us off mountain biking the area, he's fishing to get back out on his bike again soon."
