Woman savagely mauled while trying to rescue husband from kangaroo
A wildlife carer has been left with shocking injuries after her family was attacked by a large kangaroo on their south-east Queensland property.
Linda Smith, 64, was left with a punctured lung, broken ribs and internal injuries after she tried to rescue her husband when the kangaroo attacked at Cypress Gardens, south-west of Toowoomba.
Her husband and son were also injured trying to fight off the roo.
Experienced wildlife carer Jimmy Smith threw food scraps out for a mob of 30 kangaroos and wallabies Saturday night when a two-metre kangaroo targeted him.
“Just out of the darkness this huge kangaroo came up and started attacking. It didn’t have a second thought about it,” Mr Smith told 7 News.
A kick in the face flicked off the father’s glasses and he struggled to see.
His wife tried to stop the attack, arming herself with a broom and a block of wood, but the animal was far too strong for either of them.
“Linda came over to try and ward it off so it picked on her. And then I ran and got a shovel. I think it knocked me down – it knocked her down and jumped on her,” Mr Smith said.
“I thought I was fighting for my life at one stage there.”
Their son, Sonny, grabbed a stick then ran out to help his parents, but he was also hurt.
The kangaroo had run away before paramedics arrived at the home just before 7pm.
The Smiths have been wildlife carers for years, raising joeys until they grow up, but they are adamant this was a rogue marsupial.
Ms Smith has had surgery in the Toowoomba Base Hospital for some of her significant injuries and is now in a stable condition.
Despite the attack, she does not want the kangaroo hunted and killed, insisting it was an act of nature, as it is breeding time for the animals so males are often aggressive.
There has been no sign of the large kangaroo since Saturday night.
