A Florida woman was fighting for her life after a devastating chain of events that began with a caring gesture toward a stray cat. Kennedy Ward knows the exact date her life changed forever: Valentine's Day 2023. Ward was busy showing a little love to a few four-legged friends from the local neighborhood when disaster struck.
"I was feeding stray cats and had been feeding them for months," she told Newsweek. "I was distracted and putting their food down on the ground when one of the cats, who we had named Baby, started biting me," she said. Ward went to urgent care and was given a tetanus shot.
She remembers doctors telling her there was nothing to worry about. However, a few days later, she received a notification that stopped her in her tracks. "A cat one neighborhood over from us had tested positive for rabies," Ward said.
"So we contacted the health department, and they advised us to monitor Baby." By this point, Baby was beginning to behave erratically. "He started walking in circles, screaming and screeching," Ward said. Within days, Baby had died.
It is standard practice for anyone who is bitten or scratched by an animal they even suspect may have rabies to seek medical attention. As the CDC notes, rabies is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms appear, but prompt post-exposure treatment, including vaccination, is highly effective at preventing the disease from developing. Because it can be difficult to determine whether an animal is infected, health officials recommend erring on the side of caution and beginning treatment as soon as a potential exposure is identified.
Ward knew she had to get the vaccine. What she could never have known was what would happen next. She went to the health department for treatment.
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