California teen recovers from rattlesnake bite

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (CNN, KYMA) - A 14-year-old girl in Ventura County, California is recovering from a rattlesnake bite she got while mountain biking two weeks ago.

Bailey Vanden Bossche is still on crutches. She and her friend, Zoey Roark, were biking on the Wendy Trail in Newbury Park when she fell off her bike and into the bushes.

She didn't know she had been bitten at first.

"My ankle was bleeding, but I thought it just like I didn't feel the bite and then I thought I just broke my ankle. My face started tingling, and then my hearing went out and I couldn't, like my body just didn't feel good," Bossche shared.

"It didn't look like she got bit by a rattlesnake on her foot. It just looked like she got like a cut on it because you couldn't see like two holes. You could only see like one," Roark added.

They called her dad, and he found them, at that point she couldn't move, and they called 911. Firefighters hiked in and rushed her to the hospital, where she received anti-venom.

Medical experts say if a rattlesnake bites, keep the area still, at or below heart level, and do not apply ice. Also, do not cut the wound, do not suck out the venom, and do seek help immediately.