A Virginia woman got a potentially deadly disease after a wild fox bit her while she was mowing her lawn.

Margaret Burhenn is alive today thanks to her quick thinking neighbor. "I felt a pain, a sharp pain in my ankle," she said. Burhenn was cutting her grass Wednesday when a fox came up behind her and bit, "Right at that second I knew I was in big trouble."

When Burhenn looked down, she saw the gray fox, "I reached down to push it away and it bit me through my glove."

The fox left behind multiple marks on her hands and several bits on both of her legs.

"I saw her lawn mower on the ground and I saw her next to it," said neighbor Mark Burton.He fought off the rabid fox and killed it. "I thought it was a dog or something, but when I got the shovel and ran over and saw it, I couldn't believe it."

The attack still haunted Burhenn, while being interviewed, she looked over to check what was in her yard. "See, hear that? It's probably deer," she said. Burhenn said she will be extra careful just to check out her backyard.

Burhenn is doing ok, she went to the hospital to get checked out and is going through the series of rabies shots.

Email To A Friend