A BLIND ten-year-old girl bravely fought off a crazed raccoon that
attacked her friend as they played in the woods.
Irie Campbell, 11, her brother Felix, 5, and her friend Piper Rolfe
10 - who is legally blind from a degenerative condition - were
playing in the forest behind the Rolfe family home in Kirby,
Vermont when a hissing raccoon attacked them.
The raccoon lurched at Irie’s face, grabbing her hand. She tried
fight it off, but the animal dropped to her leg, biting her on the
thigh and before lunging for her hand again.
"I was terrified and shocked at the same time," said Irie.
"Piper said 'what is it?’ and I said it was a raccoon and she got a
stick and started to poke it and hitting it a little which helped a
lot."
Terrified Felix frantically searched for a larger stick to scare
off the wild animal. "And then I screamed
‘Get away from my sister, raccoon!”, he said.
The children managed to fight off the raccoon, and Irie was rushed
to the hospital. She had been bitten six times on the hand and
thigh, and required stitches and treatment for possible rabies
exposure.
Irie Campbell tells how her friend Piper, who is
legally blind, saved her from the raccoon attack. Irie was rushed
to hospital and required six stitches and treatment for possible
rabies exposure
Irie’s father Derek Campbell praised Piper’s quick thinking.
"Piper is a little hero. She is a cool kid. I mean Piper is a tough
kid…she will barrel down any run at the ski mountain,” he said.
The raccoon is assumed to be infected with rabies