\n Sasha Aket was walking to a shop in Abraham Street when the rat latched onto her ankle and bit her several times.\n<\/p>\n
\n Desperate to get the rodent off, as she kicked her leg she flung it into the shop, and after it was removed from the premises, it chased her again.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Aket said: “The rat problem is getting out of control; a rat attacked me unprovoked when I was walking to the shop.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI was walking to the shop, and I heard squealing. I felt something on my foot in the ankle area.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I looked down, and a rat was latched onto me, clawing, squealing and biting. It latched onto my ankle.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Sasha said she panicked, kicking the rat into a shop.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said:\u00a0“I was kicking my leg, screaming because I was panicking.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I flung it off into the shop.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The shopkeeper and I started looking for it in the shop and found it hidden behind the Vimto lollies.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I ran out of the shop, and it ran straight to me again and chased me.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The bites broke the skin and left her bleeding, prompting a visit to the hospital where she was given two sets of antibiotics.\n<\/p>\n
\n When she returned home and removed her footwear, she discovered two more bites that were red, swollen, and surrounded by scratch marks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Doctors have told her to go back to hospital if she starts feeling flu-like symptoms as it could be developing rat bite fever, a rare, serious bacterial illness passed to humans from infected rodents.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “I am not out of the woods yet, as I could get rat bite fever.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I am still wary I could get sick from it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “If I feel under the weather or feverish, I have to go back to hospital.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Sasha said the experience has left her too afraid to visit the shop or leave the house without her feet and legs covered.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI am scared to go back there. Plenty of kids play on the street where that happened; it is really worrying! I won\u2019t be taking my kid to that area anymore,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sasha is now urging the public to keep Blackburn’s streets clean to keep rodents away.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “My Ring doorbell camera always captures people dumping rubbish, and we see so many litter pickers from the council coming to clear rubbish in back alleys.\n<\/p>\n
\n “These rats clearly aren\u2019t scared of humans anymore if one could bite me unprovoked like that.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There needs to be more of an initiative to catch the people dumping rubbish and littering to prevent rats in the area.”\n<\/p>\n