Mundelein Native Who Died After Snake Bite Was Ironman

BUFFALO GROVE, IL – A Stevenson High School grad has died after being bit by a rattlesnake while hiking in Colorado over the weekend, according to media reports. The cause of death for Dan Hohs is still being determined after the 31-year-old Mundelein native was bit once in the ankle while hiking with another woman at a trail at Mt. Galbraith Park just west of Denver, Colorado. His friend called for help at about 12:40 p.m. Saturday.

The avid outdoorsman and triathlete was conscious and lucid when paramedics first got to him. He started having trouble breathing about 30 minutes after he was bit and then went into cardiac arrest, according to the Daily Herald.

Hohs was taken to Lakewood's St. Anthony Hospital and was declared dead. The coroner's office completed an autopsy, but said in a statement that further investigation will determine the cause and manner of death.

(For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The 31-year-old triathlete was diagnosed with bipolor disorder while in college and credits endurance sports "for saving his life."

"After struggling with another bout of depression stemming from being laid off from my first job and being immobile from reconstructive knee surgery, I decided to commit to training for triathlon," Hohs wrote in an article for his website, Active Performance. "I didn’t know it at the time, but this commitment ended up saving my life."

In 2014, he completed an Ironman in Louisville, Kentucky

In October 2014, he also openly spoke in a YouTube video about his bipolar disorder diagnosis for National Day Without Stigma.

Hohs had recently moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and had been training with Heather Gollnick's Triathlon Team. Hohs worked as a computer software consultant.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been set.

To die from a rattlesnake bit is very rare. An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people are bit by a venomous snake each year and only about five die, according to the CDC.

Photo caption: Dan Hohs speaks about his bipolar disorder diagnosis. Photo credit: YouTube