{"id":91092,"date":"2026-06-16T12:57:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=91092"},"modified":"2026-06-16T12:59:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:59:47","slug":"rattlesnake-bite-colorado-trail-windsor-man-airlifted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/rattlesnake-bite-colorado-trail-windsor-man-airlifted\/","title":{"rendered":"Windsor man airlifted to safety after suffering a rattlesnake bite on a popular northern Colorado trail"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Cody
Cody Neidert has never liked snakes. It turns out that he had good cause. During a Mother\u2019s Day hike with his wife and children, Cody was bitten by a rattlesnake that struck without warning as he stepped over a rock. Photo by Joel Blocker, UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If the rattlesnake bite that landed Cody Neidert in the hospital is any indication, his long-held wariness of the slithery critters is fully justified.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old Windsor father of two was enjoying a Mother\u2019s Day hike with his wife Allison and their two young children when they were joined by an uninvited guest \u2013 a rattlesnake that bit Cody on his left leg between his shin and knee.<\/p>\n

Cody\u2019s leg swelled up immediately as he was starting to feel the effects of the snake venom \u2014 an all-over tingly sensation in his body and mouth, along with light-headedness \u2014 when local paramedics and the UCHealth LifeLine<\/a> helicopter arrived and flew him to the ER at UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies<\/a> in Loveland for treatment.<\/p>\n

Doctors gave Cody antivenom in the helicopter and more doses during his three-day hospital stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you head up the trail, signs say: \u2018You are in snake country.\u2019 I made a joke to my kids that I changed my mind and was going to head back to the car because they all know how much I hate snakes. We talked about snake safety because it looked like a \u2018snaky trail.\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Signs
Signs posted along popular foothills trails near Fort Collins and Horsetooth Reservoir warn hikers they are entering rattlesnake habitat in northern Colorado. Snakes like the same sunny terrain that is populal with people. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cody\u2019s wife agreed, saying the couple frequently spends time outdoors enjoying the beauty of Colorado with 7-year-old daughter Maggie and 9-year-old son Colson, but with one main caveat: \u201cCody hates snakes. It\u2019s the one thing we all know about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happened after a rattlesnake bite on a popular Colorado trail<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The family\u2019s trek began on the afternoon of May 10 on the Foothills Trail to Reservoir Ridge, near Horsetooth Reservoir<\/a> west of Fort Collins.<\/p>\n

The hike was not too long and not too short, and it would be a perfect accompaniment to what they had planned for afterward: a visit to a nearby winery to celebrate Allison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a perfect Mother\u2019s Day, until\u2026,\u201d Cody said.<\/p>\n

\"Cody
Cody and Allison Neidert laugh with each other at their Windsor candy shop. On Mother\u2019s Day, the couple set out on a family hike near Fort Collins that took a frightening turn when a rattlesnake bit Cody. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On their way up the trail, Cody looked around and made sure the area was clear of snakes as the family hiked, especially when Maggie sat down to tie her shoe. The Neiderts reached their vantage point, took a few photos and started working their way down the trail.<\/p>\n

A few minutes into their descent, they had to scale a large rock. Allison and Colson went first, and then, as Cody and Maggie crossed it, he felt a sharp pain in his left leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a devastating pain, more like when you get a thorn stuck in your skin,\u201d he said. \u201cI immediately knew. I looked and saw the snake coiled at the base of the rock and saw the rattle, about the size of a thumb.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one in the family had heard the telltale rattle of the snake, nor had they seen the snake until after it bit Cody. The snake then disappeared under the rock and slithered away, camouflaged to blend in with the dirt and brush.<\/p>\n

\"A
A prairie rattlesnake is the most common rattlesnake in Colorado. Photo by Wayne D Lewis, Colorado Parks and Wildlife.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cody thinks his brush with the snake was just lousy luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur theory is we had gone over that same rock two minutes before, and the snake might have been going up the trail or down. We just happened to cross paths with him at that time. There was absolutely no warning. We didn\u2019t see him or hear him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, the family encountered a second rattlesnake during the hike.<\/p>\n

After Cody suffered his bit, Allison went into full protective mode and began hustling down the trail with the kids. She wanted to get them to the car \u2013 a safe spot and where they wouldn\u2019t see their dad in pain. But they got another scare when they had to avoid another, larger rattlesnake on their way down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids were really scared, so my priority was getting them to where they were comfortable and I was keeping them safe,\u201d Allison said.<\/p>\n

After the snake bit Cody, his first impulse was to hurry and hike down to the trailhead. But the children were upset, Cody\u2019s leg was bleeding and the family still had about a mile to hike. After a couple of minutes, he realized the best thing to do was to call 911.<\/p>\n

The dispatcher told Cody to stop moving, sit down and lift his leg to the level of his heart, which he did. He also began warning other hikers about the rattlesnake, and a couple of them stayed with him until help arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to stay calm and breathe through it, but when I thought about Allison and the kids \u2026I know people aren\u2019t dying from rattlesnake bites, but when you call 911, and they say, \u2018Stop moving and wait for a helicopter,\u2019 you begin to think, \u2018This is bad.\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Not all rattlesnake bites contain venom, with about 25% being \u201cdry bites,\u201d and not all venomous bites require antivenom treatment. Venom is hard for snakes to make, so they typically save it to strike prey to be used as food and not on defensive strikes like the one that Cody suffered.<\/p>\n

But Cody\u2019s bite was venomous. Within moments, he began suffering from symptoms: his entire body was tingly and numb, and his leg ballooned in size.<\/p>\n

Still, his overriding thought was relief that the snake bit him and not his children or Allison, especially since Maggie has a history of respiratory infections and had to be airlifted for help two-and-a-half years ago.<\/p>\n

\"Cody
Cody and Allison, with their children, Maggie and Colson. Friends and community members have rallied around the family and have supported their Windsor candy shop after Cody suffered a scary rattlesnake bite during a May hike with his family near Horsetooth Reservoir in northern Colorado. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was so glad it was me and not them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The first emergency workers to get to Cody arrived on foot from a local ambulance crew. They quickly hooked Cody up to an IV. Ten minutes later, he heard the whirring of a helicopter that landed in a field about 100 yards from where he was lying on the trail. Within minutes, six emergency responders had loaded Cody into an inflatable gurney and were carrying him to the waiting chopper.<\/p>\n

How LifeLine crews treat rattlesnake bites in Colorado<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rattlesnake bites are still relatively rare, and LifeLine medical personnel typically see a handful a year. There are about 5,000 snake bites annually in the United States, and fatalities are rare, with fewer than 10 deaths per year.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, rattlesnake bites are most common<\/a> in the late spring and summer. That\u2019s when rattlesnakes, which are native to the state and are one of two venomous snake species that call Colorado home, sun themselves on the same open trails and rocks that attract hikers, walkers and cyclists.<\/p>\n

Warmer weather this winter and spring has caused snakes to emerge even earlier than usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe train for just this sort of emergency,\u201d said Sam Boyer-Groff, a critical care flight paramedic for Lifeline.<\/p>\n

Both Lifeline personnel and workers in UCHealth ERs keep antivenom on hand to treat bites when necessary. Antivenom is a hemotoxin that causes bleeding, bruising and swelling. It\u2019s ideal if people who suffer rattlesnake bites receive antivenom within about an hour of suffering a bite. Without antivenom, people who get bitten by rattlesnakes will decline quickly, and their complications will get much more serious.<\/p>\n

When Cody\u2019s 911 call was routed to the Larimer County Dispatch Center<\/a>, a local ambulance and fire department crew responded. Because the call was for a rattlesnake bite, the fire crew requested help from Lifeline.<\/p>\n

\"UCHealth
UCHealth LifeLine helicopter crews helped Cody after he suffered a rattlesnake bite during a family hike. Rescuers brought antivenom to Cody on the hiking trail, evacuated him, then flew him to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies for emergency care. Photo: UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The LifeLine team responds to calls for help throughout northern Colorado. The team is based at Medical Center of the Rockies. They typically transport patients to their home hospital or sometimes to UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital<\/a> in Fort Collins. The helicopter medical personnel includes a pilot, a critical care flight nurse and a critical care flight paramedic who must have worked at least five years in a busy ICU, ER or 911 service.<\/p>\n

They train with local first responders throughout the region to assess their capability to respond to emergencies and regularly practice landings and dry runs with equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially when in the back country, it\u2019s a matter of all hands on deck,\u201d said Boyer-Groff. \u201cIf we are going to have to do a rescue on a trail, and a patient is miles in, we have limited capability in terms of where we can land and because of our small medical crew. But local rescue squads can hike in and carry someone out \u2013 it takes a lot of manpower \u2013 and they have more people to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the SOS call came in for Cody, a LifeLine crew member requested a CroFab kit (an FDA-approved antivenom derived from sheep blood) from the hospital pharmacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need CroFab, and it\u2019s a finite resource,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to manufacture, very expensive, and usually a patient needs four to six vials of it. We must be good stewards of limited resources and be able to discern when and if it is needed. Part of our job is to determine if a patient meets the criteria for an invasive procedure, like getting the antivenom, or if we need to hold off until we get them to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

When LifeLine emergency workers arrive at the scene of a snake bite, they will determine whether the bite is a \u201cdry bite\u201d and the patient just needs to be brought to the hospital for further monitoring via an ambulance, or if the patient needs antivenom as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got priorities of care on how we are going to approach a snake patient. We are looking at the patient\u2019s symptoms, the rate of the venom\u2019s spread, and any sign of shock,\u201d Boyer-Groff said. \u201cA patient like Cody will be given the antivenom, then prepped for the flight and then taken to the hospital so they can get more in-depth care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other symptoms of a venomous snakebite include:<\/strong><\/h3>\n