PA man dies after being bitten by rattlesnake while camping


A Beaver County man died after he was bitten by a venomous rattlesnake late Saturday night while camping in Elk County, Pennsylvania, according to the Armstrong County Coroner's Office.

Russell Davis, 39, of Freedom, was sitting by a fire at his family's camp at Medix Run when the snake bit him just before midnight, a release from coroner Brian Myers stated.

Davis was in acute respiratory distress when he was driven by private means to meet an ambulance, Myers said. He was taken to Penn Highlands Hospital in St. Marys and was to be airlifted to a hospital in Pittsburgh.

Myers said Davis arrested in the helicopter, which then landed at ACMH Hospital in Kittanning, where he was pronounced dead.