Amazon driver hospitalized after rattlesnake bite during delivery, Florida cops say

An Amazon driver is in “very serious condition” at a Florida hospital after encountering a rattlesnake during a home delivery, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

It happened Monday, Sept. 18, in Palm City’s Highland Reserve Community, about 105 miles north of Miami, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The identity of the driver was not released.

“An Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake ... was coiled up near the front door,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The driver walked to the door, put the package down and was struck by the snake. She immediately became ill and called out for help. The snake bite victim was transported to the hospital.”

Eastern diamondback bites are painful and potentially fatal due to a toxin that “kills red blood cells and causes tissue damage,” the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute reports.

“That said, human deaths from rattlesnake bites are rare, because the antivenom is available throughout its range,” the institute says.

The species is native to Florida and common in Martin County, the sheriff’s office said.

Details about the size of the snake involved were not released. But eastern diamondbacks can weigh 10 pounds and reach 6 feet in length, making them “the longest and heaviest venomous snake” in North America, according to the National Park Service.

This story was originally published September 19, 2023 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Amazon driver hospitalized after rattlesnake bite during delivery, Florida cops say."