Mother dies from rabies after minor puppy scratch during holiday in Morocco

A much-loved Brit mum died of rabies after being scratched by a puppy as she relaxed on a sun lounger.

Yvonne Ford and her husband Ron jetted off to Morocco in February 2025 for what they expected to be an enjoyable holiday abroad.

The couple were relaxing on sun loungers when a stray puppy appeared and scratched 59-year-old Yvonne’s leg, leaving what appeared to be nothing more than a superficial mark.

Looking back, Yvonne’s daughter, Robyn Thomson, says her parents never imagined the incident posed any danger.

‘They were relaxing on the beach on the sun beds. Mum had put her legs down onto the sand and must have startled the puppy,” she says. ‘The puppy scratched her leg leaving a very minimal scratch on her leg.’

‘It barely broke the skin and looked so insignificant that she simply cleaned it with a wet wipe and carried on enjoying the holiday.’

At the time, the family thought nothing more of it.

‘It was mum and dad enjoying a holiday together, and none of us had any idea that such a tiny scratch could expose someone to rabies. We simply didn’t know,’ Robyn, 33, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, says.

‘That tiny scratch had absolutely changed our lives forever.’

When Yvonne returned home to the UK, Robyn remembers asking whether she wanted to get the scratch checked, but Yvonne declined because it seemed so insignificant.

‘If someone had told us then that such a tiny scratch could be fatal months later, we would never have believed it,’ Robyn says.

For weeks after returning home, Yvonne appeared perfectly healthy and life returned to normal.

Then, in early June, she developed a headache and, within days, her condition rapidly deteriorated, leading to her being admitted to Barnsley Hospital.

She first developed a headache before eventually beginning to lose the ability to walk and talk.

‘It was the most devastating thing we’ve ever been through,’ Robyn says. ‘The disease spread through her body so rabidly once the symptoms started. It all started with a headache.’

From there, her condition worsened with terrifying speed.

‘One minute mum was independent and full of life, and then she deteriorated so quickly,’ Robyn says. ‘She became confused, frightened and started hallucinating. Eventually she couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk properly, couldn’t swallow, couldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep.’

Robyn says that watching her mum deteriorate was excruciating.

‘As her daughter, watching someone you’ve looked up to your entire life become so desperately ill and knowing there was nothing anyone could do was unbearable,’ the neonatal nurse says.

As Yvonne’s condition worsened, doctors struggled to determine what was making her so ill. Five agonising days passed before a psychiatrist, who initially suspected Lyme disease, recognised the symptoms and asked about her recent travel history.

‘This is what I’ve found so hard, knowing that nobody knew what was causing my mum to be so poorly for the first five days until a doctor within the mental health sector suggested it could be a possibility,’ Robyn says.

One of the things she remembers the most was the shock of being told that her mum had contracted rabies.

‘It was the worst news we could have received because there was no cure, nothing to be done to bring mum back,’ she says. ‘The damage was already done.’

‘Rabies was never something we imagined could affect our family. You associate it with something that happens somewhere else, not to your mum after a holiday. Especially with the scratch being so tiny and minimal.’

Yvonne was then transferred to the infectious disease unit at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital, where she died on 11 June, four months after being scratched by the puppy.

Now Robyn knows that if there had been more awareness around rabies at the time, her mum might still be here.

‘Looking back now, that’s one of the hardest things to accept. If we’d understood the risk and known she needed urgent treatment immediately, everything could have been different,’ she says. ‘We would have pushed her to get the treatment and it would have saved her life.’

Robyn is now campaigning for greater awareness of rabies to help prevent other families experiencing the same heartbreak.

‘I wish there were more awareness, more awareness when booking holidays about the risk of potential exposure in certain high-risk countries,’ she says. ‘I wish someone had told us that there is no such thing as ‘just a scratch’ when it comes to rabies.’

‘I wish we’d known that washing the wound thoroughly and getting post-exposure treatment immediately can save your life. That lack of awareness cost us our mum.’

Speaking about Yvonne, Robyn describes her as ‘the heart’ of their family.

‘She was funny, warm, caring and incredibly selfless,’ she says. ‘She always put everyone else before herself and absolutely adored her family, especially being a Nannie to her four grandchildren.’

‘She had so much life left to live. She and my dad, Ron, had worked hard all their lives and were enjoying making memories together. They loved travelling and experiencing different cultures, and the holiday to Morocco was supposed to be another wonderful adventure together.’

Robyn says her mum was also an animal lover who would never have imagined a puppy could pose such a danger.

‘Mum loved animals and would never have imagined that a friendly looking puppy could pose such a danger,’ she says. ‘That’s one of the biggest misconceptions people have. She would never want any harm to come to the dog.’

The scratch wasn’t the result of a vicious attack but a chance encounter that would have devastating consequences.

‘It was a stray puppy that didn’t seem threatening,’ Robyn says. ‘That’s exactly why people need to understand that you can’t judge the risk by how the animal behaves or how serious the injury looks.’

Robyn is now working with Worldwide Veterinary Service and its Mission Rabies program to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

‘After losing mum, I felt I had to do something,” she says. ‘I couldn’t change what had happened to our family, but I could help stop it happening to somebody else’s.’

‘Working with Worldwide Veterinary Service and Mission Rabies has shown me the incredible work that’s being done to eliminate rabies by vaccinating dogs and educating communities.’

Robyn also has a message for anyone else who is scratched or bitten by an animal while travelling overseas but thinks it’s “only a minor scratch”.

‘Please don’t take the risk,” she says. ‘Our family thought it was only a tiny scratch too.’

‘Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and running water straight away and seek urgent medical advice immediately, even if the injury seems insignificant. Don’t wait until you get home, and don’t assume you’ll be fine because the animal looked healthy or friendly. The vaccines could save your life.’

Rabies is present in more than 150 countries, including popular holiday destinations such as Turkey, Morocco and Thailand.

According to Worldwide Veterinary Service, nearly half of Brits (47%) say they would approach or interact with a dog or cat abroad and 61% do not know that rabies can be transmitted if an infected animal licks an open wound or scratch.

As a result, the organisation launched the Think Rabies Before You Travel campaign, urging holidaymakers to check local rabies risk, avoid contact with unfamiliar animals and seek immediate help after any potential exposure over the summer.