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A woman feared for her life after being bitten by a snake while out walking her dog.
Carla Parmenter from Heybridge, Essex, claims a "great big adder" went after her on Danbury Commons in Essex, when she was walking her dogs with her family.
The 46-year-old, who was wearing a pair of flip-flops at the time, says the snake bit her twice, leaving her in searing pain and with swelling the size of a "golf ball".
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Carla said: "The pain was like nothing I've ever experienced. I was shocked – it was all within five seconds.
"It got me twice, the pain set in and I was in a state. The size of the bite was like a golf ball and felt like hot rods searing up my leg.
"It's still causing pain. I'm laying in bed and can't walk.
"I thought it was a thistle at first and I looked down – and there was a great big adder."
Panicked set in, and Carla began to worry that she was going to die, and her husband, Lee, 45, rushed her to Broomfield Hospital.
Adders – a type of common viper – are venomous but not known to be aggressive.
She spent five days in hospital, and blacked out multiple times as a reaction to the treatment. While she has since largely recovered, Carla wants to encourage the National Trust – on whose land the incident happened – to increase signage.
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She said: "We were just out with the kids walking the dogs on a Sunday afternoon.
"It's a family country walk through the parks and then suddenly I felt a pain and I saw a snake there that lunged at me twice.
"I think the National Trust should have signs up, especially after hearing that other people in that area have been bitten before.
"I know it sounds dramatic – I didn't even think we had snakes, I thought I was a goner.
"Luckily, the hospital was only around 10 minutes away and I was seen pretty quickly when I got to the hospital.
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"They had to contact the poison specialist and they said only 50-100 people get poisonous snake bites a year.
"I was given the first lot of anti venom – which they don't often have in stock – administered within 45 minutes.
"You have a reaction to the anti-venom – I had an anaphylactic shock and I kept passing out.
"Eventually I was put into the recovery room and throughout the night it kept swelling up and then at 3am they decided I needed a second dose of anti-venom and I managed to stay conscious through that.
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"The next morning it was still swelling up and I had to stay in hospital for five days until Thursday night as my blood pressure was too high to go home.
"Now I'm back home on antibiotics for 14 days and now it's gone black and bruised so I have to use a Zimmer frame as I can't put weight on it."
For others walking their dog in woodland during summer, Carla offers the following sage advice: "Just be very careful and don't wear bloody flip flops!"
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- Snakes
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