Horror as California Eagle Scout dies after being bit by a rattlesnake

The family of an Orange County man is questioning the death of their son, after he fell into a coma from a snake bite and died more than a month later.

Julian Hernandez was mountain biking at Qual Hill in Irvine, California on Feb. 1 when he was bitten by the venomous snake, according to KTLA. 

The 25-year-old, who was an Eagle Scout, attempted to pedal to safety but succumbed to the venom before authorities arrived and transferred him to a nearby hospital, KNBV-TV reported. 

Hernandez fell into a coma and was placed in the ICU, where he later died on March 4. Now, the family is seeking answers about the nature of their son’s death. 

“We are a family that handed our son over to people we trusted and never got him back,” James Hernandez wrote in a GoFundMe page titled “Help Julian’s family get answers.” 

The post went on to say Julian was “alive when he got to the hospital” and that the family will “pursue the truth about what happened.” 

The GoFundMe has raised more than $20,000 of its $123,000 goal, that also seeks to cover funeral and medical costs. 

While the coroner’s office said Hernandez died from the venomous bite, the family has opted for a third-party autopsy according to KCAL-TV. 

Snake venom can spread fast and the sooner antivenom can be administered the better chance of survival, Dr. William Woo with Kaiser Permanente said.

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“A snake bite with venom from a rattlesnake causes significant stress on the body,” he explained. “It can cause organ shutdown.

“It can be really severe and we know that the effective treatment is antivenom and the sooner we can administer, the better off the patients are. It can cause a whole host of problems in the body.”

While rattlesnakes don’t typical start being active until summer, the warm temperatures in Orange County has kicked of snake season early, according to experts, with hikers telling KCAL they have already seen them on the trails.

“Yeah, he stopped me in my tracks,” Greg Hardesty told the outlet when a red diamond rattlesnake crossed her path. “Thank you for going. I was going to turn around. That would have added some miles.”

Every year between 7,000 and 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the US, however, only about 5 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.