Man attacked by raccoon hospitalized
ATTACK: Doctors work to save finger
| Friday, Feb 12 2010 10:50 PM
Last Updated Friday, Feb 12 2010 10:50 PM
The man recently attacked by a raccoon at the California Living Museum is now lying in a hospital bed as doctors try to save the finger bitten through by the critter.
Ian Smith checked into Memorial Hospital on Wednesday and expects to stay through the weekend, he said Friday morning. During a checkup, doctors found his finger was infected.
"I kind of felt like we're out of the woods," Smith said, after he received treatment for rabies (the raccoon tested negative). "All of a sudden my finger took a turn for the worse."
The day after the Jan. 31 attack, Smith, a trained kick-boxer, described a bloody five-minute battle with the raccoon that had escaped from its cage at the museum. He was the first person attacked by an animal at the zoo.
As it charged and attacked Smith and his 8-year-old daughter, Smith said he "kicked that thing harder than I kicked anything in my life. It still went after me."
As Smith lay prone, the raccoon went for his throat. When he put his hand in the way, "It got a hold of one finger and just tore my finger up -- like a dog plays with a toy and shakes it. It thrashed it, and went right through the bone."
Minutes later, help arrived. The raccoon was captured, tested and euthanized.
After sharing his story with The Californian first, media locally and nationwide called Smith in the days following. He said he received calls from friends and relatives throughout the country who saw his story in the Los Angeles Times and on CNN and Fox News affiliates.
"I never expected it to go any further than The Californian," Smith said. "It was crazy."
Three doctors and specialists are now working to save his finger, he said. They told him his finger tissue and bone were infected. Doctors, whom Smith praised, did not wish to comment.
Smith has no health insurance but said Kern County Superintendent of Schools officials have been keeping in contact with him. County officials said after the attack that insurance bills would be forwarded to the office's insurance company.
