A Sydney woman was left unable to work for months after she was attacked by a kangaroo while trying to rescue a joey trapped in a fence in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.
Melanie Stubbs, from Campbelltown, had been walking with friends in the Megalong Valley near Katoomba in December when the group spotted a joey dangling from a chain-link fence by its hind legs.
“We thought, ‘We’ll try to free the baby,'” Stubbs said.
She said the mother kangaroo was nearby and growling at the group, but they didn’t think she posed any danger.
“I had no idea that a kangaroo would actually cause any damage. Also, she was on the other side of the fence, so we had a false sense of security,” he said.
One of Stubbs’s friends used a stick to try to fend off the kangaroo, and another tried to film the rescue attempt, as Stubbs approached the joey.
Stubbs said she slipped on an embankment by the fence and the kangaroo was “on her” at “lightning speed”.
“It went under the fence and came up with its claws outstretched,” he said.
“I don’t remember what happened next, but it’s in the movie. You can see in the movie I kicked the kangaroo. I don’t remember doing any of that. The next thing I remember, I rolled over on my tummy.
“And I was trying to drag myself and I was yelling, ‘Help me.
“And she was hitting my back. It was horrible.”
The 58-year-old told 9News.com.au that after the kangaroo got off her, she realized that some of its muscles were “out of her leg”.
“I went to get up and then I noticed my calf muscles were hanging off my leg,” he said.
Stubbs said he had to keep his leg together so he could get away from his dangerous position near the Joey.
“The adrenaline just kicked in,” he said.
The group then managed to stop a passerby on a nearby highway, and Stubbs was taken to hospital.
The kangaroo had severed Stubbs’ calf to the bone and required emergency surgery.
Two days later, the wound developed the first of two infections, for which antibiotics were prescribed.
Initially, she couldn’t walk without crutches, and because her job as a cleaner required a lot of movement, she wasn’t able to return to work until mid-February.
Stubbs also suffered nightmares after the attack.
But she says she was lucky only her leg was badly injured, and doctors told her the attack could have been fatal.
“He could have killed me,” he said.
Stubbs said he wanted to share his story to make others aware of the dangers of kangaroos, and almost everyone he had told about the attack said they would have tried to help Joey too.
“Their sharp claws can make deep cuts and their powerful kicks can cause severe bruising and internal injuries,” he said.
“If a kangaroo attacks, keep an eye on it and get away as quickly as possible while staying low, because the kangaroo is less likely to chase you.”