Heatherly Noble, from Mooresville, was on a ladder trimming bushes in her front yard when out of nowhere a black snake attacked her.
She only had seconds to react.
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"When I stepped off the ladder, unfortunately I was four feet up and stepped back into thin air," Noble said. "My right knee didn't make it. I'm in a hip and ankle brace right now and really can't get around very well."
Her cell phone was several feet away, and she couldn't call for help. Fortunately, her neighbor heard her fall and came to help her.
The snake that attacked Noble was a Black Racer snake -- which is not venomous.
Nobel's injuries were related to her fall.
"I've got a bruised tailbone, a torn ACL and a pretty shattered ego," she said, with a laugh.
She knows that the encounter could have been much worse. Nobel came close to falling right on top of the blades she was using to cut her hedges.
Noble loves being in the garden, but now she's struggling with the idea of getting back out in nature.
"I'm going to try to do it in baby steps which I have to anyway courtesy of this, but I'm going to have to be really careful," she said.