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Santa Barbara Woman Shares Story of Being Bitten by Rattlesnake

Written by KEYT Assignment Desk

Story Created: Sep 9, 2010 at 2:12 PM PST

Story Updated: Sep 9, 2010 at 2:37 PM PST

A Santa Barbara woman is recovering from a near fatal rattlesnake bite.

It happened last Friday in the Samarkand neighborhood, when Sheila Van Der Sleen bent down to pluck a dead leaf from her garden.

The 81-year old woman says she felt a sharp pain, and then her hand "blew up".

She thought she'd bumped into a thorn, but it turned out.. she was bitten by a baby rattler.

Van Der Sleen spent four days in the i-c-u at Cottage Hospital, on an aggressive anti-venom treatment.

Now that she's home, Van Der Sleen has hired an exterminator to make sure the rattler.. and its mother.. are long gone from her garden.

You can find out more in this report from KEY News reporter Beth Farnsworth.
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