Former Tottenham Star Had His Foot Eaten By A Rat While He Slept

Fox News – Former English soccer star Gary Mabbutt said Monday he was forced to end his South Africa trip early after a rat ate his foot and chewed his big toe “down to the bone” while he was sleeping.

Mabbutt, the former Tottenham Hotspur captain, told the BBC the gruesome incident happened about six weeks ago while visiting his daughter, who works at Kruger National Park.

“I’ve gone to sleep and during the night a rat has come into the bedroom, climbed into the bed and has decided to chew on my foot,” Mabbutt said. “It’s made quite a big hole in my toe, going down to the bone, and ate underneath my foot.”

Mabbutt, 57, said he didn’t feel the rat’s teeth sinking in to his flesh because he has little feeling in his feet. The former soccer star, who has Type 1 diabetes, recalled his daughter coming into his bedroom and saying she was bitten by something.

The fact that this guy was a captain for Tottenham Hotspur back in the 90’s is just gravy on top of this delicious story. It adds some nice extra flavor, but the real story here is about this sneaky ass rat.

You’d think as a man headed out to visit his daughter working in the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa, flesh-eating rats would be the least of your worries. We’re talking about a chunk of land that’s over 7500 square miles, riddled with some of the planets deadliest beasts like lions and leopards and hippopotami. Now visitors have even more things to keep them up at night, because apparently some of these African rats might sneak into your tent and start chewing on your fingers and toes.

Granted, our guy Gary Mabbutt suffers from Type 1 Diabetes, leaving him with very little feeling in his feet, so that explains why he didn’t wake up as the rat went to town on his big toe and foot, leaving him bloodied and torn open to the bone.

I understand that most people visit parks like the Kruger National Park in South Africa because they’re some of the last remaining chunks of land where humans can get a firsthand view of undisturbed nature in it’s rawest form, but to me having to deal with carnivorous rats capable of ripping into your appendages like a hungry child devouring a corndog at the local carnival seems like an unnecessary risk.

I don’t know what can be done to address the issue, but the big wigs at Kruger National Park better figure out a plan of attack quickly, because this is NOT the type of press you want out there if you’re trying to encourage new guests to visit your park.

Humans will always be fascinated by lions, we just happen to like our fingers and toes more. It’s simple math.