Woman Went to Use the Bathroom. What She Found in the Toilet Landed Her in the ER for a Rabies Shot (Exclusive)
A quick bathroom break for Alison Doyle became a medical emergency
She documented the experience on TikTok, prompting viral concern from viewers
Her ER visit for rabies shots highlighted the importance of autism accommodations in healthcareWhen Alison Doyle flushed her downstairs toilet one afternoon, she expected the usual swirl of water — not the lifeless body of a tiny bat. The discovery would send her from a quiet laundry day to a Canadian emergency room, and eventually into the center of a viral TikTok moment.
'I went downstairs to do laundry after literally a month of living in this new place,' Alison tells PEOPLE. 'I looked down and it was a baby bat, it was deceased.'
Doyle says she rarely uses that bathroom and wasn't sure how long the animal had been there. Still, she pulled out her phone and hit record before flushing the unexpected guest away.
Posting the clip to TikTok felt natural for Alison, who has been documenting her daily life online for two years. The response was immediate and urgent. Hundreds of viewers filled her comments, warning her to seek medical attention in case of rabies exposure.
'I had like 100 people telling me that I should get a rabies shot,' Alison says. Surprised by the concern, she called paramedics for advice.
They told her she needed to head straight to the ER. 'The likelihood of me contracting rabies is extremely low,' she recalls being told, 'but the percentage of you dying if you do contract rabies and don't actually get help is wildly high.'
That warning was enough to push her through the hospital doors, despite the sensory challenges she faces as an autistic person. 'If you don't think I need to be here, I would rather just go home,' she remembers telling a nurse.
Navigating a busy emergency room is never easy for her. The bright lights, close quarters and constant chatter can make the experience overwhelming.
The nurse's reassurance made a difference. 'She told me that it was good that I came in,' Alison says, adding that the validation helped ease some of her anxiety.
Medical staff determined she should start rabies post-exposure prophylaxis immediately. 'The first day you get five shots… then a few days ago I got another shot,' Alison says.
Her treatment would require multiple visits, but in Canada, she had an option that worked better for her needs. 'A paramedic can come to my house, and it's free,' she says. 'That's the best thing that's ever happened to me.'
Despite feeling sick after the shots, Alison focused on the positives. 'I'm very grateful for the level of care,' she says. 'I can't honestly believe how beautifully accommodated I was.'
Alison is autistic level one, meaning she has lower support needs — but, she says, that doesn't mean no support needs. 'I wanted the takeaway for people to be… lower support needs doesn't mean no support needs,' she explains.
Her transparency about her needs led to accommodations she calls 'the best I've ever gotten.' Staff placed her in a private family room, where she could wait in a calm environment away from the crowd.
'There was a sofa, an armchair, and I just chilled in there for five hours in the dark,' she says. 'It was the best level of care I've ever received in my entire life.'
Before leaving, she was handed a gluten-free banana popsicle — a small but thoughtful touch for someone with celiac disease. The kindness stuck with her long after she got home.
She also noticed the support pouring in online, particularly from other autistic people. Still, she points out that the most visible representation in the community tends to be white, like her, and she believes more Black, brown, and Indigenous voices need to be heard.
'Some visibility is better than no visibility,' she says, 'but I think there needs to be a lot more representation within the autistic community.' Her viral moment, she hopes, can spark more awareness.
'Autism is a spectrum,' she says. 'It looks different on everybody and it doesn't have a look.'
Her experience reinforced the value of self-advocacy, especially in healthcare settings. 'Advocating for [myself] ended up being the best possible thing I could have done,' Alison says.
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Looking back, she wants others to take rabies concerns seriously. 'If there is a deceased bat in your household, it got in there because it was alive,' she says.
'They have very small teeth… they can bite in a very undetectable way,' she adds. 'If you value your life, go get rabies shots.'
Alison's strange afternoon could have ended with nothing more than an odd TikTok upload. Instead, it became a story about health, advocacy and the ways kindness can transform an overwhelming experience.
'Disabilities are disabling, that's why it's called a disability,' she says. 'It means that I have a harder time doing things than the average person based off of how the disability affects me — and that's it.'
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