Animals

Toddler rushed to hospital after giant rat bit him in sleep


The huge rat climbed into little Rowan’s bed and gnawed his hand while he slept (Pictures: SWNS/Jane Hunter)

A mum rushed her toddler to hospital after discovering a giant rat had crawled into his bed and bit him during the night.

Jane Hunter, 34, was woken at around 4am by son Rowan’s screams after the huge rodent gnawed at his hand while he slept on November 16 last year.

She chased the rat away and quickly took the 18-month-old to hospital after finding his bedsheets covered in blood from three nasty bites to his right hand.

Ms Hunter, who lives with her family in a farmhouse in Lancashire, said they had previously tried to catch the rodent – and even woke up two nights earlier to find it standing on her pillow.

The horse breeder said: ‘It was honestly traumatic. Rowan is so young so he’s absolutely fine now whilst I’ve really struggled with it.

‘It was horrendous. Rowan didn’t seem affected after about 20 minutes, but for days and days, I was an absolute wreck. I couldn’t sleep. I’d just sit there watching him all night.

‘I’d seen the rat a few times and we’d been doing our best to catch it. It was huge and not at all scared of people – when you walked near it, the rat would run at you rather than away.

‘Two nights before the attack, I woke up with it on my face. It was stood on my pillow with one foot on my forehead and I remember feeling the size of it before I jumped out of bed.

‘On the night in question, Rowan woke up screaming and the bed was covered in blood. We searched for something sharp in the bed, but then realised it was from the rat we’d been seeing.

‘His bed is next to ours, so I think when the rat climbed on me a couple of days before, it was trying to get to him.’

The family had spotted the huge rodent a few times before (Picture: Jane Hunter/SWNS)
Young Rowan Smalley was treated for three nasty bites to his hand (Picture: Jane Hunter/SWNS)
Mum Jane Hunter was horrified to find her son’s bed sheets stained with blood (Picture: Jane Hunter/SWNS)

Rowan was treated with a course of antibiotics after attending A&E last November.

Ms Hunter said she has since bought a cat named Buttons to guard against future rodents after struggling to sleep after the attack.

She said: ‘We’ve now got Buttons who sleeps in the bedroom with Rowan as I’ve developed real issues with letting him sleep alone.

‘She sleeps in the bedroom every night and it just makes me feel a bit better as I literally didn’t sleep at all for two or three nights after Rowan got bit. I just sat up watching him all night.’

Ms Hunter said she couldn’t sleep for days after Rowan was attacked (Picture: Jane Hunter/SWNS)

Thankfully, the rat has now been captured after it was found living inside a couch on the landing.

Ms Hunter added: ‘We found lots of poo in the couch and two dead mice that it had obviously had as a snack.

‘I just couldn’t believe that it had happened but after googling it, I’ve seen rats often go for fingers of little babies and elderly people as they can smell food on them.

‘Buttons has been our saviour throughout this and now I can sleep again at least. I wasn’t particularly scared of rats before, but I am now.’

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