PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Amazon driver Mone't Robinson said Sept. 18, 2023, was just a regular day.
The 21-year-old was in the Highland Reserve Community in Palm City, Florida, dropping off packages — she was making stop 100 out of 150 when the unthinkable happened.
"As usual, scanned the package, put it down, and go to take the picture — it felt like a bee sting," Robinson said. "It wasn't nothing too aggressive, just a little sting." It was not a bee — it was an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
Robinson and a neighbor dialed 911.
When Martin County sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene, the rattlesnake was still coiled up next to the package near the front door. "I was just like, it's just a snake, it's just a bite. I'm just going to go to the hospital. They'll give me a little injection, medication, that's it," Robinson said. "I'm just going to go back to work the next day. It's nothing serious."
But that did not happen.
Robinson, at first, could be heard screaming on the 911 call, but later, she was heard taking deep breaths and calming down.
First responders credit her calmness for helping her survive.
"Yeah, I heard that after the fact," Robinson said. "I thought I was going to die."
She said she realized the bite was serious when she got in the ambulance and noticed her face, lips and eyes were getting puffy.
"I could hardly breathe because my airway was like closing, my throat swelling from inside," Robinson said.
The Port St. Lucie resident spent nearly three weeks in the hospital.
"Just by being in the hospital, I almost died too, went into some type of shock," Robinson said. "Everybody keeps telling me it's like a one in a million that something like that happened."
Attorney Lissa Dorsey of Franks, Koenig & Neuwelt said she is helping guide Robinson through the workers' compensation process.
"When you're worried about your health, and you know your job and loss of income and just the emotional aspects of it, like I said. We're there to counsel and guide and make sure everything is going smoothly," Dorsey said. Dorsey said that Robinson is a very calm, strong and brave young lady.
"Even though we're working as lawyers, there's a human aspect to this. We want to make sure that she's taken care of and get strong and get back to her job and her life," Dorsey said. Robinson said she hasn't really talked about what happened until now.
"I haven't really spoken about it too much. It is just what it is, but it's a lot mentally, it's a lot," Robinson said. "I don't really sleep like that anymore." She's thankful for her family and their support, and she's glad she's here to tell her story.
"Just grateful it wasn't my time. That's what everybody said," Robinson said.
