At 4am, Karen Gilbert lay in Dubbo Hospital having blood tests and antivenom administered after being flown in by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) following a snake bite at a remote NSW campsite.

Just days earlier, on the same road trip, she'd donated $1000 to the very organisation that came to her aid.

“As the saying goes, ‘You just never know what’s around the corner.’ That was certainly the case for us on this trip,” Karen said.

Now retired, Karen and husband Grant are caravanning across the outback, following The Darling River Run with friends.

Stopping in Louth, the couple visited the local pub, Shindy's Inn, where Karen won the Joker draw worth $8000.

“I’ve never won anything like that in my life!” Karen said.

True to the spirit of the trip, Karen shared her winnings with her travelling companions and shouted a bar tab for the Louth locals before donating $1000 to the RFDS.

Karen had always had a soft spot for the organisation, but driving the long dirt roads on this trip made its work feel more real to her. In towns like Louth, the RFDS-run primary health clinic is often the only medical care nearby.

The group pushed on through Broken Hill and towards Cobar, and parked overnight at Emmdale Roadhouse, Karen stepped out of the caravan in thongs and felt a sharp pain in her foot.

"The pain was absolutely excruciating," she recalled.

She'd been bitten by a snake. With no other symptoms beyond the pain and gradual swelling, she tried to sleep it off – but by the early hours, it couldn't be ignored. Grant and Karen set off for Cobar Hospital, 150km away, meeting an ambulance on the way.

From Cobar, RFDS pilot Conrado Ciarliero and flight nurse Lydia Newton flew Karen to Dubbo, where she arrived at 4am for treatment.

"I had a great experience with all the medical staff. They looked after me and did whatever they could, despite it being the worst 12 hours of my life," she said.

It was a busy night for the RFDS – two planes landed at Cobar, and Karen's flight carried five people, including another patient and carer. Grant, meanwhile, drove back to collect the caravan before making the 500km trip to Dubbo to be reunited with Karen.

A few months on, Karen is in good spirits with just a small mark left where she was bitten. Doctors classified it as a “dry bite”, with little to no venom injected. At the time, Karen mistakenly put her foot in a bucket of ice. She now knows the correct approach: immobilise the leg, bandage it as far up as possible, and stay still, using a splint if available. She'd had a snake bite bandage in the caravan the entire time.

These days, Karen wears boots, no matter the hour, and the couple carry a snake bite kit as they continue their travels.

Looking back, Karen remembers almost buying a lottery ticket that night, out of superstition. She decided against it.

“I’d actually won the lotto that night when I survived.”

Read more about the work of the RFDS and how you can donate at www.flyingdoctor.org.au.