UK mum woken by toddler’s screams to find rat attacking him

A woman was woken in the middle of the night by her son’s screams. When she rushed into his room, what she found terrified her.

A mum was horrified to find her toddler had been attacked by a giant rat in the middle of the night.

Jane Hunter, 34, was woken up by her 18-month-old son Rowan Smalley screaming at about 4am on November 16.

When she rushed to his bedroom, she found the toddler bleeding after a rat had climbed into his bed and bit him three times on his right hand, while he slept.

The boy’s bed sheets were covered in blood stains from the attack with Ms Hunter describing the ordeal as “horrendous”.

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Rowan Smalley, 18 months, was asleep when he was attacked by a large rat in the middle of the night. Picture: SWNS/Mega

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“I’d seen the rat a few times and we’d been doing our best to catch it,” she said.

“It was huge and not at all scared of people – when you walked near it, the rat would run at you rather than away.”

Rowan was rushed to hospital where he was treated with a course of antibiotics.

Ms Hunter, who lives in Lancashire, England, said two night’s earlier she had her own horror experience after waking up to find the rat on her face.

The rodent climbed into his bed and bit him three times on his right hand. Picture: SWNS/Mega

He was rushed to hospital where he was treated with a course of antibiotics. Picture: SWNS/Mega

“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.”

While the toddler has since recovered from the attack, Ms Hunter said she has been left mentally scarred and has since bought a cat for protection from future rodents.

His mother Jane Hunter, 34, was horrified to find blood stains in his bed from the attack. Picture: SWNS/Mega

“She (cat) sleeps in the bedroom every night and it just makes me feel a bit better,” the mother said.

After the attack, Ms Hunter said she found out the rat was living inside a couch on the landing “so we have now managed to capture it”.

“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.”