MEP Manon Aubry bitten by viper in French Lot region, back on her feet

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PARIS — Manon Aubry, co-chair of the Left Group in the European Parliament, was back on her feet Thursday after being hospitalized for a snake bite.

“I was in the (French region of) Lot and I simply stepped on a viper,” Aubry told reporters on the first day of a conference in southern France by her hard-left party, France Unbowed.

Aubry on Tuesday shared a picture of herself on a hospital bed after the incident, drawing widespread media attention in France.

“I’d made that Instagram post precisely to avoid questions … I hadn’t anticipated a newswire dispatch on the subject,” she said.

Aubry said Thursday that she was “unlucky,” as France typically only sees about 150 similar venomous snake bites and two serious cases a year.

“At the hospital where I was treated, they told me they hadn’t seen one in 10 years,” she said.

The 36-year-old then struck a more positive tone, calling the meeting an important moment for her party’s leader and presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has gained momentum since announcing his candidacy in May.

“I see a tiny opening here — we’re going to win in 2027.”