A 6-year-old girl is recovering after being bitten by a rabid bat outside her Wisconsin home — before her brother killed the animal with a homemade sword inspired by “Braveheart,” her family and health officials said Tuesday.
Cecilia “Cece” Kale was playing on a tree in front of her family’s home in Tigerton, about 60 miles west of Green Bay, last week when the winged mammal attacked her left thigh.
The girl’s brothers — Nicklas, 11 years old, and Camden, 16 — then took action to remove the stick from their sister before killing her with a homemade blade, their mother, Elizabeth Kale, told NBC News.
Céce Kale.Courtesy of Elizabeth Kale”And here comes Camden and he says, ‘No!’ and he has the post and he hits it right [the bat] disabled [Cece] and then Nicklas grabs it, and he starts killing the thing,” she said. “Nick made the homemade sword. We love ‘Brave heart.’ »
She said her son made the sword on the day of the attack. Since then, she said Nicklas regularly quotes lines from the 1995 Mel Gibson film.
The bat tested positive for rabies and the family consented for Cece to receive the life-saving vaccinations less than 48 hours after the attack, Kale said, even though they oppose mandatory vaccinations.
Although Kale said the family would have opted for treatment if the bat had not been captured and tested, she was grateful to doctors and county health officials, who patiently explained the treatment plan.
Rage is almost 100% fatal if left untreated, but it is almost certainly non-fatal with a series of five shots.
Nick Mau, health officer for the Shawano-Menominee County Health Department, confirmed the attack and estimated that his office deals with about one rabid bat attack on a human each year.
“This one gets all the [attention] because a young individual was exposed to a bat that actually tested positive, so it’s not uncommon,” Mau said.
Mau said his practice regularly interacts with patients who may be hesitant to receive vaccines and other widely accepted medical treatments.
“We understand that there are many different views on different treatments, different vaccinations, childhood vaccines or, in this case, rabies prophylaxis,” he said. “Our job is to communicate risks, what is recommended by the medical community, what is recommended by the state health department and the CDC.”
Despite the painful shooting, Kale said, her daughter still enjoys playing outside and doesn’t seem to be bothered by the attack.
“She is so brave and has a stronger constitution than the rest of us,” she said.
Kale added that she wouldn’t stop her eight children from enjoying the outdoors despite the local bat population.
“We want to live here to give our children land and a home school, raise them like we would have done in 1850 and give them that type of lifestyle,” she added. “And they are thriving.”
