21:21pm 2nd August 2006
As Martine Browne strolled in the park with her two children, she stopped to point out what she thought was a friendly grey squirrel.
The result was carnage.
First it leapt on to her three-year-old son Reece's head.
And when Mrs Browne tried to shoo it away, it sank its teeth into her hands and arm, causing four deep wounds and leaving her covered in blood.
'I'm still in shock,' said the 25-year-old housewife after treatment for her injuries at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon.
'I cannot believe a squirrel would do that. There was blood everywhere, all down my arms and over my clothes. I'm scared to use that path now.'
The attack happened on Monday afternoon. Mrs Browne was strolling along a path between Gorse Hill and her home in Pinehurst, Swindon, after a trip to the shops with Reece and her six-year-old daughter Jasmin.
'It all happened so fast,' she said. 'I had the buggy with me, but I let Reece get out to run around.
I said, "Look at that squirrel" and then it jumped on Reece.
'I tried to remove the squirrel four times and it attacked me four times.'
Nurses ascertained that she had already been given a tetanus jab, dressed her wounds and gave her antibiotics.
But the wounds had re-opened by the evening and Mrs Browne needed further treatment at an NHS walk-in centre. Now she is warning other park users to be on their guard and not to fall for the cuddly Squirrel Nutkin image fostered by Beatrix Potter stories.
Full story in the
Daily Mail
