Cary Elwes, who is best known for starring in the 1987 movie The Princess Bride, was airlifted to the hospital on Saturday after being bitten by a rattlesnake at his home in Malibu, California. 

Elwes Bitten By Rattlesnake

Daily Mail reported that Elwes, 59, had been gardening in his backyard over the weekend when the rattlesnake bit him. He later took to Twitter to show off his grizzly injury. 

“Bit not by a ROUS but a rattlesnake,” he wrote. “Grateful to the staff of Malibu Urgent Care, LA County Fire Dept. and the staff and medical professionals at @UCLAHealth for their great care. Am recovering well thanks to all these wonderful folks.”

Sources told TMZ that friends who rushed to help Elwes thought that his injury was “life-threatening,” but the actor is expected to make a “full recovery.”

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Not Much You Can Do About Rattlesnake Bites

UCI Health states that when bitten by a rattlesnake, there isn’t much that someone can do.

“There is no intervention at the scene of a venomous snakebite that is recommended,” said Dr. Jeffrey Suchard, a UCI Health emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist.

“Your goal is to get to a hospital as soon as possible to be assessed for possible antivenom treatment,” he added. 

Suchard went on to say that it takes about four to six hours before the venom from the bite turns into a serious situation. He also said that it’s not smart to suck out the venom (even though this trick is often shown in movies) because it is ineffective and actually does more harm to the body. 

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Elwes Injured On Set Of Princess Bride

People Magazine reported that Elwes had previously recalled being injured on the set of The Princess Bride. When the script called for him to be hit on the head by actor Christopher Guest, Elwes recalled that the blow “landed just a touch harder than either of us anticipated.”

“And that, folks, was the last thing I remember from that day’s shoot,” Elwes said.

“I woke up in the emergency room, still in costume, to the frightening sound of stitches being sewn into my skull … and of course, Chris felt absolutely terrible about the whole thing, even though I kept telling him it wasn’t his fault,” he continued. “It was my dumb idea.”

“But you know what? That particular take was the one that ended up in the film,” Elwes added. “So when you see Westley fall to the ground and pass out, that’s not acting. That’s an overzealous actor actually losing consciousness.”

We’re glad to see that Elwes seems to be recovering well from his latest injury! We hope and pray that he suffers no further complications from his rattlesnake bite. 

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