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'My throat swelled up:' Amazon delivery driver thankful to be alive after rattlesnake bite

'They realized that the venom actually came back into my system and was getting worse again,' Monet Robinson says
Posted at 4:08 PM, Nov 29, 2023
and last updated 2023-11-29 16:49:53-05

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — In September, Monet Robinson was suffering in the hospital after being bitten by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake. On Wednesday, she said she's on the mend and feeling blessed.

"Yes, for life itself," she said.

Robinson said she nearly lost her life while delivering an Amazon package in the Highlands Reserve community in Palm City.

"I put the package down. When I put it down, I got back up and I felt like a bee sting," she said.

She said she didn't think anything of it. In fact, she thought she had been stung by a bee.

Monet Robinson hospitalized after snake bite 11292023
Monet Robinson hospitalized after snake bite in Palm City.

"Then I turned around and I saw it, that's when I freaked out," she said. "I was like oh my God, it's a snake."

Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are highly venomous and very common to Florida.

Right away 911 was called and the Martin County Sheriff's Office showed up. On the way to a Cleveland Clinic hospital, Robinson said things turned for the worst.

"My throat swelled up, my tongue, my face, my lips, my eyes, everything just started getting big," she said.

Monet Robinson hospitalized after rattlesnake bite 11292023
Monet Robinson in the hospital learning to walk after rattlesnake bite to her leg.

She said she went into shock. So, the doctors decided to put her to sleep. A few days on and her battle to live wasn't over.

"Then they realized that the venom actually came back into my system," she said. "So, it was getting worse again."

Robinson said it took nearly 20 vials of antivenom to treat her. Eventually her condition improved, with rehab and physical therapy following soon after. She even had to relearn how to walk.

It's been a couple of months since her snake bite, but work is the furthest thing from Robinson's mind.

"Sometimes when I think about going to work it gives me anxiety," she said. "Like if I think about driving and delivering packages it's almost like PTSD."

Robinson said she's not sure if she will ever be OK. However, she said the owners of the home where she was making a delivery have reached out to see how she's doing.