Teen describes rattlesnake attack

Portland teenager Chelsey Oquist was expecting to enjoy a late-summer camping trip in Central Oregon before the start of school. Instead, she encountered an 18-inch rattlesnake.

Chelsey and a crew of family and friends drove to Pelton Park campground near Madras the afternoon of Sept. 9 with plans to stay for the weekend.

At about 9:30 that evening, the 17-year-old was headed to the restroom when she stepped off the campground’s paved road to let a park ranger vehicle pass.

When she stepped off the road, it wasn’t grass she stepped on, but something else.

Pain immediately radiated through her left foot.

“When it sunk its teeth in, it was like a stinging. I screamed and then ran over to my campsite,” Chelsey said.

Her brother and two of their friends were with Chelsey and heard the rattle as she ran. Using flashlights, they spotted the snake, which darted under a rock.

Back at their campsite, it didn’t take long for Chelsey’s mother, Nicole Oquist, to spot the blood coming from two puncture marks on the top of her daughter’s foot. She called 911.

“It happened so fast,” she said. “We were all pretty terrified. I was just trying to keep her calm.”

Nicole did the right thing by calming her daughter, based on advice given by Jefferson County paramedic Dave Engles, who responded to the scene.

Because the venom enters the bloodstream almost immediately, Engles said, the harder the heart pumps, the more quickly venom spreads.

Nicole said that while she was helping Chelsey, Chelsey’s brother and two friends helped the park ranger hunt down the snake.

Before long, the snake came out of its hiding spot and curled up on a speed bump, she said. By the time a Jefferson County deputy arrived about 20 minutes later, the ranger had killed it with a shovel.

But the proof that it was a rattlesnake didn’t do much to soothe Chelsey.

“I was freaking out,” Chelsey said. “My foot was shaking and swelling, and I couldn’t really feel my face.”

Chelsey, who has asthma, said she also struggled to breathe, partly because she was terrified.

“This was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Chelsey’s mother said she felt helpless while waiting for paramedics.

“I didn’t know what to expect, because this has never happened to anyone we know. I didn’t know whether she would recover or not recover.”

Jefferson County EMS officials arrived minutes later and took Chelsey by ambulance to Mountain View Hospital in Madras. When paramedics realized the Madras hospital didn’t have antivenin, Chelsey was flown to St. Charles Bend.

Chelsey’s mother said her daughter received 25 vials of antivenin over the next two days, and the area around the top of her foot swelled considerably.

Chelsey left the hospital Sunday. She’s still in pain from tissue damage, which doctors told her will persist for several weeks.

Even though she was back in Portland, the Centennial High School senior wasn’t able to make it to the first day of classes Wednesday.

“I was looking forward to it since it’s my last year, so it’s kind of a bummer,” she said.

She did make it to school Friday for a couple of hours in a wheelchair and was met by stares.

Chelsey says the incident won’t keep her away from the outdoors or campgrounds.

“I’ll be outside camping again, but I’ll be cautious,” she said. “I’ll be a lot more cautious.”