A man who survived a near-fatal venomous snake bite says the ordeal gave him a rare second chance: to fall in love with his partner all over again.
Mark Pelley, a snake catcher from Melbourne, Australia, was bitten by a deadly tiger snake in March 2024—just as his relationship with Rebecca, now his wife, was beginning to blossom. The bite left him unable to breathe and triggered multiple organ failure and temporary full retrograde amnesia, wiping all memory of his life prior to the attack—including his new girlfriend.
“I didn’t even remember who she was,” Mark recalled. “It was like our entire relationship had been erased.”
While Mark was in critical condition, Rebecca had no idea what had happened. After 10 days of silence, she sent him a frustrated text:
“Well, if you don’t want to talk to me anymore, you could have let me know.”
That message turned out to be the first clue Mark had about their relationship. Once out of the hospital, he scrolled through their old messages and realized how much he had once cared for her.
“I could see from the texts that I was really into her, chasing her, while she was playing a little hard to get,” he said.
When the two reunited, Mark had to explain everything.
“I told her: ‘I know from my notes and texts that I’m in love with you, but I don’t remember a single thing about you.’”
He gave her the option to walk away—but Rebecca didn’t hesitate.
“She looked at me and said, ‘I look forward to making you fall in love with me all over again.’”
Mark described what happened next as one of the most profound moments of his life.
“The second I touched her hand, I felt it—like a jolt of warmth through my arm and into my heart. My heart remembered her, even though my brain didn’t.”
Rebecca later admitted she felt terrible for accusing Mark of ghosting her.
“I had no idea what he’d gone through. I don’t really follow the news, so I missed the headlines about his snake bite. I just assumed he’d lost interest.”
Mark had been bitten while on the job—handling a tiger snake at a property in northern Melbourne. It was the first time in his 14-year snake hunting career that he had experienced such a life-threatening incident.
Now fully recovered physically—but still regaining some of his memory—Mark and Rebecca are married, having turned a tragic twist of fate into a love story that defied the odds.
“It’s surreal,” Mark said. “It’s like we got to restart our love story—only this time, knowing just how precious it really is.”
