The daughter of a British woman who died of rabies after being scratched by a puppy on holiday has described the horrific symptoms she suffered.
Yvonne Ford, 59, and her husband were on a trip to Morocco in February this year when the stray dog, which had been lying under her sunbed, scratched her.
The scratch didn’t draw blood and the grandmother-of-four, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, didn’t think much of it at the time.
Several months later she developed a ‘horrendous’ headache and was admitted to Barnsley Hospital.
Within days, Yvonne was unable to walk, talk, sleep or swallow. She started hallucinating, and developed a fear of water.
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She was transferred to Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and was eventually diagnosed with rabies. She died on June 11.
Now, her daughter Robyn Thomson, 32, also from Barnsley, has launched a campaign to vaccinate dogs against rabies in the hope of saving others from suffering a similar tragedy.
Robyn, a neonatal nurse, described her Yvonne as the was ‘the most loving person imaginable’, adding: ‘She had the biggest heart She was my best friend and the most fantastic grandparent to mine and my brother’s children.
‘She was a huge animal lover so for her to have died of rabies – it is just particularly horrendous.
‘She will be missed so dearly.’
Robyn said her mum’s death was a massive shock to the whole family – especially as it took four months for her to develop symptoms.
She said: ‘She and dad were on a holiday in Morocco and they were on a private beach next to the hotel.
‘There was a puppy underneath mum’s sunbed and it scratched her leg.
‘There was no blood and no evidence of the dog being unwell. It was such a mild scratch and it never got infected so we just thought nothing of it at the time.’
What does rabies do?
- Initial symptoms can include anxiety, headaches and fever
- There may be hallucinations and respiratory failure if it develops
- Spasms of the muscles used for swallowing make it difficult for the patient to drink
- The incubation period between being infected and showing symptoms is between three and 12 weeks
- If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal you must wash the wound or site of exposure with plenty of soap and water and seek medical advice without delay
- Once symptoms have developed, rabies is almost always fatal
- Before symptoms develop, rabies can be treated with a course of vaccine – this is ‘extremely effective’ when given promptly after a bite – along with rabies immunoglobulin if required
- Every year, more than 15million people worldwide receive a post-bite vaccination and this is estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths
- Pre-exposure immunisation is recommended for people in certain high-risk occupations and for travellers to rabies-affected, remote areas
- But effective treatment for rabies is not readily available to those in need
- UKHSA/World Health Organisation
She said her parents came home and everything was normal. They then went to Florida as a family, before her Yvonne and her husband went on a fishing trip.
‘But in June she came down with this horrendous headache. She was in a lot of pain so went to hospital,’ Robyn explained.
‘Soon, she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t walk, she couldn’t talk. She was hallucinating and had a fear of water.
‘She couldn’t swallow. She was choking on her own saliva. So doctors put her in an induced coma.’
A week later she was diagnosed with rabies.
‘There’s only one outcome for rabies once symptoms develop and it’s death every time.
‘So we had to turn off her life support.’
Yvonne’s family later learnt it normally takes a few months for rabies symptoms to show – although the fatal disease can incubate for up to two years.
Now, Robyn now plans to fly out to Cambodia to work with Mission Rabies, an award-winning charity that leads mass dog vaccination campaigns,rabies surveillance, and vital community education across Asia and Africa.
Their goal is to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the dog population to achieve herd immunity and stop rabies at its source, while also educating children on how to recognise rabid animals and stay safe.
To volunteer with Rabies Mission, Robyn needs to raise money to cover the cost of travel, accommodation, and project fees.
The mum-of-two has launched a GoFundMe and is appealing for help from the public.
She said: ‘This is something I need to do. If I can save even one life through this work, or spare one family from going through the pain we have experienced, then it will be turning a terrible negative into something positive.
‘I’m determined to transform my grief into action – helping vaccinate dogs, support surveillance efforts, and deliver life-saving lessons in schools.’
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that around 59,000 people die from rabies in over 150 countries each year. Of these cases, 95% occur in Africa and Asia.
Before Yvonne, the last recorded death of a British person from rabies was in November 2018. Omar Zouhri, 58, died at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, after being bitten by a cat in Morocco.
Before that, bat handler David McRae died in 2002 when he was bitten during a bat identification exercise.
Last month we looked at all the countries that have rabies, tips on how you can avoid contracting it and what treatment is available should you be bitten or scratched by an animal suspected of having it.
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