Pensioner in hospital after 'savage' attack by rat while asleep in bed

Warning: This article contains a graphic image which some readers might find distressing

A woman has been left with shocking injuries after being attacked by a rat while sleeping in bed, her husband has said.

Diana Kirk has brain damage and sleeps downstairs in a hospital bed and she is cared for by her husband John Kirk, 85, along with a care team who come into their house to help out.

The 76-year-old was left with shocking injuries after she was discovered by her husband at 5.45am on Monday, May 9, at their home in Ringwood Road in Bingham.

Mr Kirk says he was asleep upstairs when he first heard a rat "scratching around" by his feet, saying he could not see it well given how dark it was but that it was clearly a large rodent.

Then, at around 1.30am, he noticed it again, before he fell asleep and woke up as normal just before 6am.

'There were scratches on her face, her neck, her hands, there was blood everywhere'

When he went downstairs and checked on his wife in their living room, he then saw what it had done to Diana and immediately called for the ambulance, which arrived at around 8.20am.

Pictures which have been shared with the permission of Mr Kirk show the extent of her injuries after the incident.

He said: "I've never seen anything like the injuries she had - you can see how bad they were from the pictures."

Mr Kirk continued: "It was absolutely savage. I went and knocked on the door of the young girl over the road as she is also always up early and so she helped.

"They took Diana to the Queen's Medical Centre and she came back on Thursday night.

"There were scratches on her face, her neck, her hands - it had tried to gnaw right through to the bone from the looks of it. There was blood everywhere."

The next morning, after a neighbour had set up a trap in the house, Mr Kirk says the rat was caught and trapped in a cage.

The rat 'was making a nest in our house', Mr Kirk says

As he moved it to the patio, Mr Kirk says the rat went to try to bite him multiple times.

He says a neighbour then killed the rat, shooting it four times with a pellet gun before it eventually died.

"Because of her condition, my wife can't move," Mr Kirk continued.

"I have since read that rats only ever go for young babies and people who are immobile in bed like my wife.

"She can't feel pain so she would not have known much about what happened. I would like people to know what can happen and to be aware of it.

"I found out a couple of days after it happened that it was making a nest in the house."

Helen Speed is the Care Manager at Home Instead East Notts and Melton Mowbray which provides care to Mr and Mrs Kirk at their home.

She said: "A few weeks ago, another one of our care givers was in Bingham and heard some squealing - there was a rat inside a client's dustbin.

"I think it must be an ongoing issue and one that I think people living nearby need to be aware of - especially if they are vulnerable."