In 2018, a 55-year-old man from Utah has died after contracting rabies from a bat. His is thought to be the first death due to rabies in Utah in over 70 years.
Gary Giles started feeling unwell in mid-October. When he experienced back and neck pain, he saw his chiropractor. "That relieved some of the pain initially, but then numbness and tingling into his arms," his daughter, Crystal Sedgwick, told KSTU.
Time didn't lessen Gary's discomfort. "Being touched, he felt like he had pins and needles all over his skin. It was really uncomfortable. He felt like his skin was on fire," Crystal said.
The Utah Health Department believes that Gary contracted rabies from catching bats. His family was aware he occasionally did this because there were bats in the attic of the family home.
"He would just catch them, put them outside," Crystal said. "I know that my mom has always thought that bats were really cute, so he would sit there and hold them for her and let her pet their little heads, and they would lick them, but they never really thought anything of it."
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Only 1% of bats are infected with rabies, but bats in good health won't typically interact with humans.
Crystal was deeply affected by watching her father painfully succumb to the illness. She looks to spread his story to raise awareness about the animals. The Utah Health Department is awaiting test results to confirm that the illness was the cause of death.
To learn more about the symptoms and prognosis of rabies, watch the video.
