{"id":691645,"date":"2026-07-14T19:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/691645\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:10:13","slug":"woman-who-rescued-bat-saved-from-rabies-after-using-google-lens-news-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/691645\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman who rescued bat ‘saved from rabies’ after using Google Lens | News UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Laura
\n\t\tLaura spotted two pin-prick bite marks on her hand that were caused by the bat biting her (Picture: SWNS)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Laura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday celebration in Lesbos, Greece, in May when she spotted the bat drowning at a friend\u2019s apartment complex.<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018I grabbed it from the water on instinct because it was drowning \u2013 I had no idea of the risks. It sat on my hand for about 10 minutes, drying off.<\/p>\n

\u2018We all thought it looked cute, so I took a photo of it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Laura, from Mossley Hill, Liverpool, uploaded the picture to Google Lens to find out what type of bat it was.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n

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

She said: \u2018I thought it was all a bit dramatic. But when I took a photo of my hand, I saw two tiny bite marks.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Laura
\n\t\tThe bat was identified as a pipistrelle by Google Lens which told Laura to get medical help (Picture: SWNS)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Laura
\n\t\tLaura pulled the bat from her friend\u2019s swimming pool and let it sit in her hand to dry out for 10 minutes (Picture: SWNS)<\/p>\n

The app also explained that the bat\u2019s teeth are so small, she may not have felt the bite.<\/p>\n

Laura contacted her insurer the following day (May 8), who told her to seek medical attention.<\/p>\n

She went to the Hospital of Mytilene, where the language barrier caused a bit of confusion.<\/p>\n

\u2018At first, they tried to send me away with antibiotics,\u2019 she said. \u2018I\u2019m not sure they understood what happened.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was sent to a travel clinic, and a nurse was furious I hadn\u2019t been given the first dose yet. I went back to the hospital and found the infectious diseases department \u2013 they were brilliant.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Laura
\n\t\tDespite having to keep returning to the hospital, Laura managed to enjoy the rest of her holiday (Picture: SWNS)<\/p>\n

She returned for two more rabies post-exposure prophylaxis jabs while still on holiday before getting a final jab on June 1.<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018My GP didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018I later found out there is a dedicated rabies hotline in the UK that would have delivered it to my doctor\u2019s surgery.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was lucky Google Lens told me to go to the hospital \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018A lot of people aren\u2019t aware of the dangers of these wild animals and the risks. Hopefully I can help raise awareness.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rabies is a deadly infection that is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.<\/p>\n

It is contracted through the bite or scratch of an infected animal.<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Britain\u2019s first \u2018gull ranger\u2019 starts work to improve human-seagull relations<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Parents filmed risking their children\u2019s lives in Richmond Park<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Seagulls are getting drunk on flying ants and it\u2019s causing a right kerfuffle<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tComment now<\/p>\n

\t\t\tComments
\n\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source
\n\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tNews Updates<\/p>\n

Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Laura spotted two pin-prick bite marks on her hand that were caused by the bat biting her (Picture:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2851,844,2043,50,90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-691645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-google","tag-greece","tag-news","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}