A man whose wife died after contracting rabies when a dog scratched her on holiday has recalled the “horrendous” symptoms she suffered. A stray puppy scratched Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as she relaxed on a sun lounger while on holiday in Morocco.
She didn’t think anything of it at the time but four months later she stared to get an “unbearable” headache and was admitted to Barnsley Hospital. Days later she couldn’t walk, talk, sleep or swallow. The grandmother also experienced hallucinations.
Ms Ford was put into a coma after she was transferred to Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. She was diagnosed with rabies while undergoing treatment there, but sadly died.
Her grieving husband, Ron, and their two children, Robyn and Adam, shared the tragic story with ITV’s This Morning on Monday (July 28). Mr Ford said the scratch didn’t leave a mark so they both decided it wasn’t worth seeing a doctor. The couple even went on another holiday to Florida in May.
Mr Ford broke down as he recalled his wife’s painful death so his daugther, Robyn stepped in. She said the family returned to the UK on May 23 and the following week her parents went to York on a fishing trip.
Robyn said her mum started to have a “horrendous” headache and was unable to sleep. She explained that when Mr Ford took his wife to A&E she was able to walk and talk. But days later she couldn’t walk, talk, swallow, had developed a fear of water and was hallucinating. She said: “She just deteriorated within five days.”
Doctors decided to place Ms Ford into a coma because she had started to choke on her saliva. She was diagnosed with rabies and her family were told her life support would have to be switched off.
The family now want to raise awareness of rabies to help prevent others from suffering as a result of the virus. Robyn, who has launched a GoFundMe appeal, said: “This is something I need to do. If I can save even one life through this work, or spare one family from going through the pain we have experienced, then it will be turning a terrible negative into something positive.”
The mum of two said she was determined to transform her grief into action by helping to get dogs vaccinated, to support surveillance efforts and to deliver life-saving lessons in schools. At the time of writing, the appeal raised almost £2,500 towards a £4,000 target. The money raised will help support efforts from Mission Rabies in Cambodia, which is a charity run by Worldwide Veterinary Service.
Its experts lead mass dog vaccination campaigns across Asia and Africa, with a goal to vaccinate at least 70% of dogs to achieve herd immunity and stop rabies at source.
Rabies has almost been eradicated in Britain, but it is still possible to get it in parts of Asia and Africa. It can often be caught when a person is scratched or bitten by an animal carrying it. The virus can lay dormant from one to three months. Once symptoms appear, rabies is almost always fatal.
Dr Nighat Arif told This Morning viewers rabies vaccines are available privately for travel. She said if you have a scratch the first thing to do is to clean the wound with soap and water. But she added you can get the virus not only from a scratch, but also being licked so any part of the body that comes into contact with an animal should be washed.
Asked what message the family most wanted to convey, Ms Ford’s son, Adam, told This Morning: “We don’t want people to go through what we’ve gone through. Seeing your mum deteriorate in seven days like that. We don’t want anyone to go through that ever again. If we can get the awareness out, just check, check, check, contact your doctor. Get the injections. That’s all we want.”
This Morning is on ITV at 10am from Monday to Friday.