Miss Fidget.com

One of the most old school hero type displays of bravery ever, ever, Ever. I hope someone gives him a medal and a ton of money. Way to go Rayshun! I’d have run away like a sissy with my wrists balled up under my chin, screaming and crying. Ok, well maybe I’d have grabbed the other kids and run away.

July 4, 2007  From the Charlotte Observer

5-year-old boy wrestled rabid fox 

A 5-year-old Cleveland County boy pinned a rabid fox to the ground at a Sunday cookout, allowing six other children to run to safety.

“I wanted to protect my little brother,” said Rayshun McDowell, who encountered the animal while the children were playing in the front yard of his Kingstown home. The fox bit him on the leg, and the 61-pound boy pinned the lunging animal for more than a minute until his stepfather could rush to help him.

“I looked out the window and Rayshun had the fox by the neck and was pushing it into the ground,” said his mother, Shinda Linder. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

Cleveland County Animal Control officials confirmed Tuesday that the fox was rabid and that Rayshun is receiving treatment.

Earlier that day, a fox attacked a 6-year-old girl only a few streets away from Rayshun’s home. Officials didn’t know whether it was the same fox, but the girl is undergoing rabies treatment as well.

Rabies is a fatal virus that attacks the nervous system of mammals. It’s spread through saliva and contact with the brain tissue of an infected animal. Cleveland County health official Sam Lockridge said symptoms can lie dormant in humans for up to six months, but will arise almost immediately in animals.

This was Cleveland’s 15th confirmed case this year, twice as many as this time last year. Lockridge said that one reason for the increase is the region’s rapid growth, in which animals are being pushed into neighborhoods as their habitat disappears.

Animal control officials in York County, S.C., said they’ve also seen an increase. The county already has seven confirmed cases, compared with last year’s five. Gaston County has confirmed three cases this year, Cabarrus seven, Iredell five, Mecklenburg nine and Catawba seven. Those counties have seen no increase from last year and are on pace to see similar numbers.

Officials urge people to stay far away from wild animals and to prevent pets from straying near them. Rabies is most likely to be spread during the summer.

“I definitely wouldn’t advise anyone else to react the way the young boy did, because of the dangers,” Lockridge said. “But that shows a lot of heart, and it’s a good thing he reacted that way and helped those other children.”

Rayshun’s stepfather, Ryan Thompson, pulled the boy off the animal and kicked it. A neighbor fired three times with a handgun but the fox continued to advance.

“I had to hit it in the head with a stick I found in the yard to finally kill it,” Thompson said. Thompson, in a cast with a broken leg, at one point struck the fox with his crutch.

Lockridge said the virus causes strange behavior in animals and they may continue to attack even after they’re wounded.

Safely inside, Rayshun only asked for a Band-Aid and didn’t complain of any pain.

“He’s a tough kid,” his grandmother Sarah Linder said. “He was complaining more about the shot for rabies than he did about getting bit by a fox.”

“Rayshun was really calm and wasn’t upset,” Shinda Linder said. “I couldn’t believe he would do something like that. He was so brave, and I was a wreck.”

Rayshun said he’s not sure why he did what he did except that he was thinking of protecting 2-year-old Ryan.

“I knew he needed help,” he said. “I just did it.”