Dad breaks down in tears as he reveals exact moment stray dog gave wife fatal rabies

Daily Mirror

6 days ago

A guest on This Morning was in tears today as he revealed he had tragically lost his wife to rabies after she was scratched by a dog on holiday in Morocco
This Morning fans were in shock today after a guest revealed his wife had died from rabies after being scratched by a dog on holiday. Yvonne Ford tragically died, aged 59, on June 11 - four months after she was scratched by the stray dog, who had been lying under her sunbed in Morocco back in February.
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Her bereft husband, Ron, and two children, Robyn and Adam, were on This Morning to raise awareness of the deadly infection, which the NHS warns is "almost always fatal once symptoms appear, but vaccination and early treatment can prevent it."
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Talking to hosts, Dermot O'Leary and Rochelle Humes, Ron, who was fighting back tears, said: "We went to Morocco for a winter break. Two days before we came home, we were on the beach of the hotel, lots of dogs were running about everywhere...
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"There was a puppy underneath her sunbed, she put her leg down and it startled the dog, it scratched her. It didn't bleed. It didn't really mark her...
"So I asked her, should we go see somebody, she said: 'It hasn't bled so'... you're unaware.
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"That was the second to last day of the holiday, no illness. No nothing. Went home. A month later, still nothing, no symptoms whatsoever."
Dermot explained that the family had been on another trip, three months later, which was, sadly, just weeks before Yvonne's death, to which Ron confirmed: "In May we went to Florida, in fact on 21st, she was dancing around a poll with my granddaughter..."
Putting his head down as he started to cry , Ron was told by Dermot: "Sorry Ron. Take a minute Ron."
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Explaining that her mum's symptoms had started a week after they returned from the US, Robyn said: "On the Saturday, my mum started with a horrendous headache, unbearable headache, she couldn't sleep at all.
"The Monday after, my dad had taken her to A&E because her headache was so severe, the Monday she went into hospital, walking, talking, doing everything.
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"Come the Friday, she couldn't walk, talk, swallow, she had a fear of water, she was horrendously hallucinating, beyond what we could imagine.
"She just deteriorated within five days."
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Sitting on the sofa with the family, Doctor Nighat Arif explained that there was a rabies vaccination available to be taken before going on holiday, particularly for places, such as Morocco, Asia or Africa, saying: "Immediately before going on holiday, there is a rabies vaccine that we can give.
"It's available privately for travel. We know 59,000 cases of rabies or deaths across the world in 150 countries.
"Places like Morocco, Asia, Africa, north Africa, the world has become such a small place now, we don't think about it."
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She continued: "If you have a scratch, most immediate thing to do is wash it with soup and water, clean the wound.
"It's not always just a scratch that we get from kittens, or dogs or bats, it could be licking of the nose, tongue, lips, eyes, wash all of that out.
"There is post-exposure treatment you can be given as well."
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Thanking the family for appearing on the show, Dermot asked: "What's the one message you would like to send to anyone?"
Yvonne's son Adam responded: "Just check the recommendations from the government, Morocco was only recommended for rabies. It's not a 'you have to do it. Just check.
"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."