Adeline Barajas, a 3-year-old Santa Clarita resident, was having a normal evening with her mother, Lynn Borneman, on July 13. However, things took a turn when a Southern Pacific rattlesnake bit Adeline’s left hand while she was grabbing an Amazon package that had a gift for her in it.
Her father, Manny Barajas, who was out of town on a business trip in New Jersey, said he recalled that Borneman heard their daughter scream, “A snake!” and saw their daughter’s hand up in the air with two puncture wounds and blood dripping.
“And then picked up Addy and she’s like, ‘What are you, what, what, what is,’ she was overwhelmed, and she saw the envelope,” Manny said. “She saw the rattlesnake; she saw the tongue. And immediately got her in the car and took her to … she was going to drive her to Henry Mayo (Newhall Hospital).”
Manny said that his wife called him immediately after the incident on his way home from work – asking her a bunch of questions like, “What happened? What is going on? Tell me what I need to do.”
Manny quickly Googled things to do and said to call 911.
“She’s on the phone with 911, and they convinced her to pull over because in case she gets to Henry Mayo, and they don’t have the (anti-)venom. Now, she’s going to, they’re going to have to transport her somewhere else, because she just wasted a bunch of time,” Manny said, saying first responders met them at Vallarta Supermarket in Canyon Country.
Adeline was put into an ambulance and taken to Henry Mayo, receiving her first shot of anti-venom.
Manny said that, since Henry Mayo does not have a pediatric intensive care unit, she was transferred to a hospital in Northridge and she received another dose of anti-venom on her way there. A third dose was distributed to Adeline at the hospital when she arrived.
Manny said he immediately flew home the next day to be with his daughter and wife. He added that she spent two nights at the hospital.
He said that Adeline has been in great spirits and recovering beautifully despite her hand still being slightly purple.
“She’s playing and moving around, like nothing happened. She just questions every once in a while, like, ‘Why did the snake bite me? Why did you take a picture of the snake? Why did James (their neighbor) take a picture of this thing?’” Manny said.
Manny said the reason he wanted to tell Adeline’s story is to spread awareness.
“(Spread) awareness for people (on) what to do and if you do decide to drive off to the hospital on your own, call 911 so they can make sure that they may have the anti-venom, because not all rattlesnakes have the same venom, and they all require different anti-venom. I recommend people take a photo of the snake that bit them,” Manny said.
A GoFundMe page has been established to support the Barajas Family at tinyurl.com/4enrrk42.
