Golden resident Ethan Vogel, 11, is still alive today likely because of quick actions by his father, Zach Vogel, and a team of rescue workers from Fairmount Fire Protection District.

A rattlesnake struck Ethan’s chest after he fell from his bike while riding with his father on North Table Mountain in Golden Tuesday.

The mountain biking duo was enjoying a ride on the North Table Mountain Loop near the farms of the north side of the mesa when the incident occurred.

“North Table Mountain is known for rattlers, but we didn’t expect things to change this fast,” Zach wrote in a post on the Facebook group Front Range Mountain Biking.

Here is a summary of the timeline of events from bite to recovery as notated by Zach Vogel. He gave the Denver Gazette permission to publish his son’s name and picture in hopes it helps raise awareness for bikers, hikers and runners in the area:

About 90 minutes into their ride late Tuesday afternoon, Ethan hit a rock while riding, fell from his bike and landed near a rattlesnake that was just off the trail, according to Zach Vogel, the boy’s father in a timeline posted to Facebook.

Vogel wrote that the nearly three-foot-long snake bit the 11-year old on the right side of his upper chest at 6:36 p.m. The boy got up and walked backed about four feet to reach his father’s bike. Ethan took off his shirt to reveal the marks left by the snake’s fangs.

After making a call to emergency services, Vogel said he saw the effect of the venom on the boy and tried to calm him while shielding him from a possible return of the snake.

“The snake’s venom was already doing its work and lips went numb, white spots on cheeks, pain setting in, hard time breathing, heart rate increasing,” Vogel wrote.

The pair waited on the trail about 20 minutes for the ambulance as Ethan’s symptoms worsened. His father wrote that “Ethan’s body began purging bile and face [was] completely numb. Extending to fingers and toes.”

Fairmount Fire Protection District rescue squad pulled their ambulance to within 50 yards of the trail and loaded Ethan to start treatment. Vogel wrote that Ethan’s heart rate reached 165 beats per minute and his blood pressure had “tanked.”

The ambulance left for St. Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood at a little past 7:00 p.m. after confirming there was antivenin serum available there, Vogel wrote.

In the emergency department, medical staff administered the antivenin, steroids and other anti-inflammatory medicine to the boy. Ethan’s mother, Heather, met them at the hospital and helped keep the fatigued 11-year-old “focused and stay conscious,” Vogel wrote.

Ten vials of antivenin were given the boy over 90 minutes and he was transferred to intensive care unit at Anschutz Children’s Hospital in Aurora at 8:45 p.m. His vital signs “looked much better”, Vogel wrote, and the boy slept through the night.

On Wednesday morning, Ethan was given six more doses of antivenin, his father wrote, with two more rounds of antivenin given Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.

Vogel wrote that by Wednesday, about 24 hours after the being bitten, Ethan’s “swelling was diminishing and pain was subsiding to 4 of 10.” He was moved from the ICU to a standard care room, Vogel wrote.

“We have ridden it (North Table Mountain) for years, but it’s been a while together,” Zach said of the incident. “Ethan loves to ride and really wanted to rip it up before dinner together.”

Rattlesnakes are Colorado’s only venomous snake, and although Ethan’s run-in with the snake was rare, rattlesnake bites are a cause of death in younger people more so than in adults.

West Metro Fire posted to Facebook that treated an adult woman in June 2019 who was bitten by a rattlesnake while biking on Green Mountain in Lakewood. She survived the encounter.

Rattlesnake venom works fast if not a dry bite and Zach Vogel expressed that “this was not mild or moderate, it was extreme.”

Ethan was discharged mid-day Thursday and is expected to recover fully within 14-20 days.

The family has started a GoFundMe page: Help Ethan Fight the Bite: Rattlesnake Bite Ease