A woman told of her terror when she was attacked by a group of wild pigs who chomped on her hand and tried to eat her legs.
Kay Robins was house sitting for a friend in Alligator Creek near Townsville, Australia, when she spotted a herd of pigs in the garden over the Easter period.
Realising that she has forgotten to close the gate, she started to panic on how to avoid the feral animals.
One of the creatures still refused to leave the garden as she tried to shoo them away, jabbing one in the eye with a piece of bamboo.
Kay told 7NEWS : “Most of them ran out but the boar kind of got confused and was going backwards and forwards.
“He just turned and charged me. I thought, ‘what are you doing? Out’s that way’."
The house sitter told how she tried to stop the pig from attacking her after they came bounding towards her.
“I put my hands down to try and stop him from eating my legs and he just started to grab my hands," she added.
“I had the piece of bamboo in my right hand, I was poking him in the eye when he was chewing on this hand, and he wasn’t even batting an eyelid."
Her efforts proved to be in vain as the pig refused to let go and "just kept chomping" on her hand.
A neighbour heard Kay's cries for help and rushed over which seemed to scare off the pig.
She told the neighbour what had happened and was taken to hospital for what she thought would be a simple procedure to have stitches in her hand.
But instead, she was kept in the ward for six days after her index finger on her left hand was left flayed open.
Surgeons had to wait for the swelling to reduce before they could perform the procedure.
Kay said she still struggles to move her fingers after her horrific ordeal but feels lucky that she managed to stay on her feet and escape without worse injuries.
“Fortunately for me, I stayed on my feet. But a child, he would have run through," she added.
She hopes her experience will encourage authorities to take action and work to solve the problem of feral pigs in the area which locals have complained of for years.
Reflecting on the attack, she raised concerns for children and what would have happened if a youngster was attacked.
