California girl rushed outside to grab her Amazon package. Then she ended up in the hospital for two nights

A 3-year-old girl in Santa Clarita, California, was bitten by a venomous snake after she ran outside to grab a package that had been left at her home, according to her father, Manuel Barajas.

According to The Daily Mail, Barajas said his daughter, Addy, spotted the delivery and rushed out to pick it up because it contained a gift for her. A Southern Pacific rattlesnake was reportedly hiding underneath the brown padded envelope at the time.

Barajas wrote on a fundraiser page that the snake bit Addy’s left hand. He described it as a “terrifying experience.”

Girl received multiple rounds of antivenom during hospital stay

Addy’s mother, Lynn, rushed her to nearby first responders immediately after the bite, according to Barajas. First responders then transported the girl to a hospital, where she was given antivenom, he said. Addy later needed to be moved to a pediatric intensive care unit, where she stayed for two nights, Barajas said. She reportedly received two more rounds of antivenom treatment during that time.

Barajas told KTLA that his daughter has since made a strong recovery. “She’s doing great now,” he said. “I’d say she’s about 70 percent recovered. She’s still bruised on her left hand where she was bitten.” He also told the outlet that Addy remains in good spirits. “Her spirits are high, her demeanor is great, but she keeps asking why she got bitten by a snake,” he said.

Barajas said he was out of town on business when the bite happened and rushed home to be with his family afterward. He is now asking for financial support as the family deals with medical bills tied to Addy’s hospital stay, antivenom treatments, and ICU care, according to his fundraiser post. He said he also missed about a week of work while caring for his family.

“We are doing everything we can to support Addy’s healing, but the costs are overwhelming,” Barajas wrote on GoFundMe. “We never imagined we’d be in this situation, and it’s hard to ask for help, but we need support to get through this difficult time.” Unexpected animal encounters have drawn attention online, such as when a cat owner watched an Amazon delivery driver drop off a package then kidnap her cat.

As of the time of reporting, the GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $16,681 from hundreds of donors. The danger of unsupervised outdoor play for young children is tragically underscored by other incidents, such as when Jamal Morton’s two-year-old daughter wandered into the backyard alone.