Julian Hernandez was mountain biking at the Quail Hill Trailhead in Irvine, Calif., when he was bitten by a rattlesnake on Feb. 1, 2026. The 25-year-old Costa Mesa local was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital and taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Over a month later, on March 11, Hernandez died in the hospital. The Orange County Coroner’s Office ruled his death the result of an animal bite.
While rattlesnake bites are fairly common in California, they’re rarely fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), out of the roughly 7,000 to 8,000 people bitten by venomous snakes in the U.S. each year, only five die on average. Especially when emergency care (and antivenom) can be administered within the first 4 to 5 hours, the chances of surviving a rattlesnake bite are very high.
That fact has left the Hernandez family with lingering questions about Julian’s death. According to the GoFundMe page set up by Hernandez’s family, Julian was “strong and healthy,” and he was “alive when he got to the hospital.”
“We are a family that handed our son over to people we trusted and never got him back,” the fundraising page reads. “We have questions that deserve answers, and getting those answers requires a legal fight that costs more than any normal family can afford.”
Rare Fatality From Rattlesnake Bite
Rattlesnake fatalities are exceedingly rare in California, but they do happen. According to the California Poison Control System, approximately 300 rattlesnake bites are reported annually in the state. Over the last 10 years, though, only three rattlesnake-related fatalities have been reported, including Hernandez…