Laura Horton sitting at a table with food (Left) and the small bite marks on Laura's hand after she held the bat (Right)
Laura spotted two pin-prick bite marks on her hand that were caused by the bat biting her (Picture: SWNS)

A British personal trainer is crediting Google Lens with saving her life after she was bitten by a bat she rescued from a swimming pool.

Laura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday celebration in Lesbos, Greece, in May when she spotted the bat drowning at a friend’s apartment complex.

She said: ‘I grabbed it from the water on instinct because it was drowning – I had no idea of the risks. It sat on my hand for about 10 minutes, drying off.

‘We all thought it looked cute, so I took a photo of it.’

Laura, from Mossley Hill, Liverpool, uploaded the picture to Google Lens to find out what type of bat it was.

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The app identified it as a pipistrelle, but its AI function advised her to seek immediate medical treatment because of the risk of rabies.

She said: ‘I thought it was all a bit dramatic. But when I took a photo of my hand, I saw two tiny bite marks.’

Laura Horton, 53, was bitten by the bat that she rescued from the swimming pool. // A woman was bitten by a bat on holiday - and sought rabies treatment thanks to Google Lens. Laura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday trip to Lesbos, Greece, in May 2026 when she found a bat drowning in the swimming pool at apartment complex where she was visiting a friend. She grabbed the animal from the water and let it sit in her hand for 10 minutes to "dry off" - unaware it had bitten her before flying away. Laura wanted to know what type of bat she had rescued, so she uploaded a photo of it sitting in the palm of her hand to Google Lens. As well as identifying it as a pipistrelle bat, the AI programme alerted her to seek medical treatment immediately due to the risk of contracting rabies from handling the animal. She also claimed Google Lens warned her that she would be unable to feel a bat bite as their teeth are too small, and on closer inspection, Laura noticed two tiny pin-prick bite marks. According to the NHS website, rabies is a rare but serious infection that is usually caught from an infected animal's bite or scratch, and it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Photo released 14/07/2026
The bat was identified as a pipistrelle by Google Lens which told Laura to get medical help (Picture: SWNS)

Laura Horton, 53, found the bat drowning in the swimming pool. // A woman was bitten by a bat on holiday - and sought rabies treatment thanks to Google Lens. Laura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday trip to Lesbos, Greece, in May 2026 when she found a bat drowning in the swimming pool at apartment complex where she was visiting a friend. She grabbed the animal from the water and let it sit in her hand for 10 minutes to "dry off" - unaware it had bitten her before flying away. Laura wanted to know what type of bat she had rescued, so she uploaded a photo of it sitting in the palm of her hand to Google Lens. As well as identifying it as a pipistrelle bat, the AI programme alerted her to seek medical treatment immediately due to the risk of contracting rabies from handling the animal. She also claimed Google Lens warned her that she would be unable to feel a bat bite as their teeth are too small, and on closer inspection, Laura noticed two tiny pin-prick bite marks. According to the NHS website, rabies is a rare but serious infection that is usually caught from an infected animal's bite or scratch, and it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Photo released 14/07/2026
Laura pulled the bat from her friend’s swimming pool and let it sit in her hand to dry out for 10 minutes (Picture: SWNS)

The app also explained that the bat’s teeth are so small, she may not have felt the bite.

Laura contacted her insurer the following day (May 8), who told her to seek medical attention.

She went to the Hospital of Mytilene, where the language barrier caused a bit of confusion.

‘At first, they tried to send me away with antibiotics,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure they understood what happened.

‘I was sent to a travel clinic, and a nurse was furious I hadn’t been given the first dose yet. I went back to the hospital and found the infectious diseases department – they were brilliant.’

Laura Horton, 53, at the villa where she was bitten. // A woman was bitten by a bat on holiday - and sought rabies treatment thanks to Google Lens. Laura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday trip to Lesbos, Greece, in May 2026 when she found a bat drowning in the swimming pool at apartment complex where she was visiting a friend. She grabbed the animal from the water and let it sit in her hand for 10 minutes to "dry off" - unaware it had bitten her before flying away. Laura wanted to know what type of bat she had rescued, so she uploaded a photo of it sitting in the palm of her hand to Google Lens. As well as identifying it as a pipistrelle bat, the AI programme alerted her to seek medical treatment immediately due to the risk of contracting rabies from handling the animal. She also claimed Google Lens warned her that she would be unable to feel a bat bite as their teeth are too small, and on closer inspection, Laura noticed two tiny pin-prick bite marks. According to the NHS website, rabies is a rare but serious infection that is usually caught from an infected animal's bite or scratch, and it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Photo released 14/07/2026
Despite having to keep returning to the hospital, Laura managed to enjoy the rest of her holiday (Picture: SWNS)

She returned for two more rabies post-exposure prophylaxis jabs while still on holiday before getting a final jab on June 1.

She said: ‘My GP didn’t actually know what to do. Luckily, we have the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, and I was able to get my fourth injection arranged with them very easily.

‘I later found out there is a dedicated rabies hotline in the UK that would have delivered it to my doctor’s surgery.

‘It was lucky Google Lens told me to go to the hospital – who knows what might have happened. I read the tragic case about the boy in Canada who died after a bat landed on his face.

‘A lot of people aren’t aware of the dangers of these wild animals and the risks. Hopefully I can help raise awareness.’

Rabies is a deadly infection that is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.

It is contracted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal.

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