Sixteen-year-old Vera Oliphant of El Cajon tells U-T San Diego that she's lucky to be alive.
Vera says she was visiting her uncle in Jamul on Oct. 27 when she went up a hill to get cellphone reception to call her mother.
The girl says she heard rattling as she stepped into a pile of weeds and twigs. She looked down and saw an adult rattler and five babies biting her foot.
Vera hobbled to the house and was driven to a hospital to receive antivenin. The girl says she lost consciousness four times and was in intensive care for several days. She'll return to school next week.
