Flavia McDonald warned travellers to Bali to consider a different approach to her family getaway after her daughter was left needing a rabies jab in her neck after visiting Ubud’s monkey forest
A mum has issued a warned after a monkey bit her daughter in the neck during a trip to Bali, resulting in her needing a rabies jab.
Flavia McDonald jetted off to the Indonesian island with her husband and 12-year-old daughter Lorana on Father’s Day as part of a last-minute family getaway. She said the surprise was meant to bring the family together as a nice surprise for the family.
Despite overcast skies and heavy showers, the family intended to make a decent effort to enjoy the holiday. Flavia said they decided to head out from their Seminyak hotel to Ubud, which is famous for its monkey forest.
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She told news.com.au: “Ubud would be something different…something fun.” She continued: “So we decided to do a half day in Ubud on the Wednesday…and with storms forecast in the afternoon, we thought the park would take us an hour and a half in the morning and we would be able to return to Seminyak by 12pm.
“We got to the sanctuary and it was super busy…I have been in the park before, but it was just so busy [presumably because of the weather.” After being told about how to keep safe around the monkeys, Flavia said the family did not have an open bag, sunglasses or hats they could snatch.
She said the family walked around for about 40 minutes in one section of the park where people could sit. Flavia said they could see monkeys but that none were close until suddenly one jumped on her husband’s shoulders before it hopped onto her daughter’s.
“She was paralysed [in fear] and we kind of knew we couldn’t make any abrupt movements [or the monkey could attack],” she told the Australian outlet. “So the monkey started pulling at her shirt, her pockets, looking in her top and as I got close to her to shush it away, within five seconds, it just bit her on the neck.
“I was petrified but wanted to keep calm so she wouldn’t panic…and make things worse.” Flavia said her daughter did not feel the money’s teeth sink into her due to being in a state of shock and when she looked down at her neck there was a bite mark with blood streaming from the wound.
“I looked down at her neck, and I just said ‘oh my god’,” Flavia said. “She thought it was just a scratch… but then we saw the bite mark with blood. We read all the guidelines, and one was not to establish eye contact. So we knew not to get close, don’t make contact… but she was just petrified with the monkey on top of her. The whole thing was just so fast.”
Lorana was then rushed for first aid where staff initially dismissed rabies concerns as “monkeys were very clean” and that they “don’t need to worry.” She claimed the staff simply washed the wound with soap and water, but she was more concerned about her daughter’s safety.
Having looked at advice online, Flavia knew that she had to “act quickly”, especially if the bite is on the upper body. After going to a clinic where they could get a rabies shot, the family were stunned to get a bill of 69million Indonesian Rupiah (£3,084).
Flavia said she had to dig into personal funds in order to cover the rabies jabs there and then. She added: “One of the injections actually had to go in the area of the bite, so my daughter… who is 12… I have never seen her scream like the way she did in that hospital.
“One injection went into the top of the bite, one in the bottom of the bite, one in the arm and one in the leg. So it was two vaccines, and both rabies related… and she’s also taking medicine for herpes virus B infection, so six tablets a day for two weeks.”
Australians were issued warnings about rabies following a spike in infections in Bali. Smart Traveller warned Australians that rabies was a risk through Indonesia and that the disease was 100 per cent fatal.
Flavia said: “If I had read anything like this, anything similar, I would’ve had a different approach to going to the park. I would’ve been a little more aware that something like this can actually happen. It ruined the trip for us.”