"I guess that's karma for splitting up on our anniversary night," he said.
After getting in an argument with his wife on their 20th wedding anniversary, a last-minute decision to spend a night in the great outdoors almost turned fatal in less than three hours for a Chino Valley man.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment camping trip," Jason Hackett, 48, said. "Me and my wife had a little spat, so I just needed to get away for a little bit."
Hackett was only planning on spending the night in his camper on July 29 before returning home, but things took a turn for the worse when he went outside.
"I just finished off a six-pack of beer, because who goes camping without beer?" Hackett said, "And I had to use the restroom, so I walked up to a tree that was right
next to my van, turned on my flashlight, and there it was."
A fully grown Western diamond rattlesnake appeared right in front of Hackett, he said. Before he even had the chance to flinch, he said the snake lunged at him.
He was bit on his left leg near the rear of his calf, and as an amputee, Hackett knew he had to make a move before matters got worse.
In shock, Hackett made his way back to his van, picked up his phone and called his wife, who then called 911.
"After talking to my wife, the 911 operator told me to sit still in a chair, to keep my leg elevated right around my heart level and to stay calm." Hackett said.
From the moment he got off the phone with his wife, Hackett said he experienced intense muscle spasms, a burning sensation and lightheadedness before deputies arrived.
While on the phone with the operator, Hackett spent 30 to 40 minutes waiting for deputies from the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office to arrive to his campsite in Perkinsville, he said.
As the venom from the rattlesnake started to spread throughout his body, Hackett's condition continued to get worse by the second.
"It felt like I had acid pouring down my leg," he said.
When the two deputies arrived, they realized that Hackett needed to be evacuated immediately. Given the remote location of Hackett's campsite, getting an ambulance to the scene would have been too difficult, according to the Sheriff's Office. The deputies quickly decided to call in a rescue helicopter.
As deputies were tending to Hackett, he was vomiting and had convulsions before they left the campsite, the Sheriff's Office said.
In video footage shared by the Sheriff's Office, deputies could be heard advising Hackett to keep his eyes open and to take slow, deep breaths in order to keep his heart rate at a steady pace.
Hackett was loaded into a rescue helicopter and taken to a Phoenix-area hospital for antivenom and treatment. He was discharged after a multi-day stay.
But Hackett said he is still on a long road to recovery, even more than a month after the bite.
"I'm still going through the pain, on top of the burning sensation, when I touch my leg, it feels numb." Hackett said. "Like right now, just sitting here talking to you, my left leg is on fire, and it's killing me."
After his 4th bite, outdoorsman offers safety advice
As someone who enjoys being outdoors, Hackett is determined not to let a bite keep him from doing what he loves.
"I love bow hunting and being with the wildlife, so there's no way I'm going to let this slow me down anytime soon," he said.
Hacket confirmed what his wife said: It was the fourth time in four years he had been attacked by a rattlesnake. Hackett said he wants to use this incident as an opportunity to teach the public about how to be safe while spending time outdoors.
"First things first, I'm going to get me a set of those snake chaps," he said, "But what I really want is to make sure other people are aware of their surroundings when they're camping, hiking or outside with their children."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Snakebit but still kicking: Arizona camper survives 4th bite in 4 years
