‘Horrific’ raccoon attack on Hilton Head sends vacationer to the hospital. Here’s her story
It was pitch black on Hilton Head Island, and Barbara Ard was being attacked. She had no idea what kind of creature was latched onto her leg — she just knew she needed to get free.
No, it wasn’t an alligator, or a shark. The real perpetrator was a furry, trash-loving pest.
A raccoon attack in a private resort community on Hilton Head Island sent the vacationing tourist to the hospital with serious injuries in the early morning hours of Sept. 3 on Labor Day weekend. The raccoon, which likely had rabies, has not been located.
The attack occurred just after midnight as Ard, of Greenville, South Carolina, was walking out of her rental condo in Evian, a neighborhood within the Shipyard residential plantation on the southeastern end of the island. As Ard opened the door to her car, she felt something grab onto her calf.
“I literally did not have any idea what was going on,” she told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Ard was able to kick off the animal, but it quickly came back, biting her again in the front of the leg.
Moments later, the assailant finally surrendered. The animal ran into the nearby woods — but not before turning and looking at Ard one last time.
“That’s when I knew what it was,” she said.
‘I was in a lot of trouble’
The raccoon was gone, but the attack left Ard with serious injuries. Photos from that night show scratches across her right leg, with a large chunk of flesh ripped from her calf. Ard was losing blood fast.
“I turned around and looked at my leg and realized I was in a lot of trouble,” she said.
A friend quickly called 911 and contacted Evian security, who wrapped a towel around Ard’s leg to slow the bleeding. Minutes later, she was rushed to the emergency room at Hilton Head Hospital.
Repairing Ard’s leg wounds required over 20 stitches. Doctors also began the long process of post-exposure rabies treatment: a tetanus shot, two injections of the antibody drug human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) and a small rabies vaccine, the first in a series of four doses.
Ard finally left the hospital at 5 a.m., armed with prescriptions for antibiotics and painkillers.
Is the raccoon rabid?
After searching the woods near Ard’s short-term rental and setting traps, Bluffton’s K&K Wildlife Services was unable to locate the raccoon, according to Lawrence Alexander, director of safety and security for the Shipyard community. As of Wednesday, the animal had not yet been found.
The raccoon is believed to be rabid, according to Derrek Asberry, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Healthy raccoons rarely attack humans.
No other sightings have been reported since that night, and no other people or pets are known to have been exposed, Asberry said.
But Alexander says the animal might already be dead. According to the Centers for Disease Control, animals infected with rabies typically die within seven days of becoming sick.
Raccoons are considered primary carriers of the rabies virus in South Carolina, according to DHEC. But don’t let the critters scare you: Attacks are rare, and rabies-related deaths in humans are even rarer. According to the CDC, only one person has ever died from the raccoon strain of rabies.
Although the risk of future attacks remains low, Ard has one request for island residents and vacationers: Stay aware.
“People need to be mindful and be watchful when they’re out at night. It could happen to anyone,” she said. “I would hate for anyone else to have to go through this horrific incident.”
‘I just want to get better’
The terror of the attack cut Ard’s trip short. Less than 12 hours after arriving in Hilton Head, she headed back home.
The island has been a treasured vacation spot for Ard’s family and friends for over 30 years — but Ard says she might need some time away while she heals.
“Hilton Head has always been our happy place,” she said. “It kind of has a cloud over it at the moment, but I know that everything will fade with time, and hopefully it will still be our happy place.”
Back in Greenville, Ard still visits her doctor’s office every few days. There, she occasionally receives additional doses of the rabies vaccine, while also having her wounds redressed and checked for infection.
As her recovery continues, Ard spends most days in bed. When she must, she uses crutches to get around. Her right leg is still wrapped in a soft cast.
Despite the pain, Ard can’t help but see a silver lining:
“Things happen in life,” she said. “It’s just about how you react and how you deal with it. At this point, I choose to be positive. I just want to get better so I can get back to life.”
If you or your pet has come into contact with this raccoon or any other animal that might have rabies, call DHEC’s Environmental Affairs office in Beaufort at 843-846-1030 during regular business hours, or after hours at 888-847-0902. Online resources for rabies exposure and rabid animals are also available from DHEC and the SC Department of Natural Resources.
