Kangaroo Attack Leaves Jogger In Bloodied Heap, Animal Tossed Woman Around Like ‘Rag Doll’


A jogger who was savagely attacked by a kangaroo in Australia is lucky to be alive and had to play dead during the nerve-wracking mauling.

According to a 9News report, Debbie Urquhart, 54, had just begun a morning jog over the weekend when she was suddenly in a fight for her life. The personal trainer and former body-building champion was running along a popular trail near Watties Road in Templestowe when a large buck kangaroo came out of nowhere and began attacking her.

Urquhart said the kangaroo knocked her to the ground and pinned her there while kicking her repeatedly “like a rag doll” with its sharp claws. She described the horrific mauling to local reporters.

“(It) really hit me and knocked me down into the grass and was jumping on me and I was screaming, my natural reaction was to scream. He ripped me to pieces.”

“He just kept on kicking into me and I was trying to crawl away. He left me for a bit and I thought he was going to come back and kill me.”

“Every time I close my eyes its pretty vivid, it’s horrible. If he had got to my stomach, I could have been killed.”

The animal attack victim said her only recourse was to play dead. She reasoned this would stop the attack and her life would be spared. The mother of two was right.

Urquhart said the roo stopped the attack. Bleeding profusely from large gaping lacerations, she mustered up the strength to crawl into nearby bushes.

She then made her way back home — 500 meters away from the site of the attack. There, her husband raced her to a local hospital.

Her injuries were so severe that doctors performed emergency surgery due to the large loss of blood and large open wounds. Dozens of sutures were needed to close the wounds over a large expanse of her body.

Her husband described first learning about the kangaroo attack on his wife.

“She was just standing there covered, covered in blood from head to toe and t-shirt and shorts were shredded to pieces, looked like she’d been through a mincer,” Robert Urquhart said.

Last month, the Inquisitr reported on the story of a man who punched a kangaroo that attacked one of its dogs. The supporting video went viral with millions of views.

The kangaroo attack occurred when a group of hunters, out on a trip to help fulfill a terminal cancer patient’s last wish, encountered a belligerent roo. A man’s hunting dog got sidetracked and trapped in the clutches kangaroo’s clutches. Thinking that the animal would kill the canine, the man punched the roo in the face and squared off as if he were boxing an opponent.

“The big buck kangaroo releases the dog when the owner gets close but then moves in to try and attack the human. A kangaroo kick to the guts could easily disembowel the owner easily, so he backs off a couple of times giving the kangaroo some space but he eventually changes the roo’s mind with a punch to the snout, as it kept coming forward. The punch stops the roo and makes him think about the situation, giving the owner and the dog time to disengage from the big wild animal and leaving it to hop off and I suppose wonder about what just happened. We laughed at the absurdity of the situation and at how unfortunate it was for the dog and kangaroo.”

Ian Temby has worked with the Australia’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning for over three decades. He said kangaroo attacks are rare but can be fatal in certain circumstances. He offers tips on what to do if a kangaroo suddenly attacks you, as the Age wrote.

“If you’re standing up, the kangaroo can kick you with its hind feet and that can pretty much rip you open. That’s extremely dangerous,” Temby advised.

“You need to crouch down low and back away, get away, and get a bush or a tree between you and the kangaroo. It’s not going to chase you far.”

Thankfully, the woman recently attacked by a kangaroo lived to tell her story.

[Featured Image by Nathan White Images/Shutterstock]

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