'It came out of nowhere': Kentucky woman smoking cigarette on porch bitten by snake

It happened so fast. A Kentucky woman was bitten by a snake on her front porch Monday as she bent down to pick up a cigarette lighter she had dropped, WZTV reported.

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"It came out of nowhere," Dessa Goodlett, of Hopkinsville, told the television station.

Goodlett was flown to a Nashville hospital after she was found in "respiratory distress," WZTV reported.

Goodlett told the television station she was smoking a cigarette on her front porch. When she dropped her lighter, she bent down to pick it up, the snake struck.

The bite caused an allergic reaction, and Goodlett was flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, WZTV reported. Doctors told Goodlett she had a "dry bite," meaning there was not enough venom in her system to cause any permanent damage, the television station reported.

Doctors were not certain what kind of reptile bit Goodlett, although they speculated it could have been a king snake or juvenile cottonmouth or copperhead, according to WZTV.

After being treated, Goodlett was released from the hospital. She returned home to Kentucky, the television station reported.