New Hampshire man bitten by rabid bat hiding in iPad case

Posted:
in General Discussion
An elderly man in New Hampshire found an unpleasant surprise lurking in his iPad case as he sat down to read the news -- a rabid bat.




Last week, 86-year-old Roy Syvertson sat down in his favorite chair to read the news on his iPad. Little did he know that between the case and the screen was an unwanted visitor, a small bat that had wedged itself into the case.

"[The iPad] was between my knees, tight as can be!" said Syvertson to WBZ-TV's reporter Kristina Rex. Syvertson was only alerted to the bats presence after he received a bite to his index finger. "Just like a bee sting. It was quite a shock," he said, about the bite.

Syvertson quickly snapped a picture of the bat before releasing it outside of his home. The next day he returned to find the bat in the same spot, dead, which alerted him that the situation was a bit more serious than first thought.

Syvertson alerted his local Fish and Game department who confirmed that the bat was rabid. Syvertson had to undergo a series of rabies shots but will make a full recovery.





"I really hope people seeing this will talk with their children and say, 'Look, if you see an animal that wants to be friends, don't touch it, don't go near it.'" Syvertson warned parents, hoping to help them avoid the same fate.

Syvertson was able to keep a positive attitude about the situation.

"I finally figured out how he got in there," he joked to the camera, "he stole my password."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    Apple is doomed: Batgate!
    tmayretrogustoJWSCanome
  • Reply 2 of 19
    RhythmagicRhythmagic Posts: 63unconfirmed, member
    🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇 
  • Reply 3 of 19
    iOS_Guy80iOS_Guy80 Posts: 810member
    neilm said:
    Apple is doomed: Batgate!
    iBat
  • Reply 4 of 19
    The guy shouldn't be hiding in an iPad case. That's just silly .
    DAalseth
  • Reply 5 of 19

    Wonder when the class action lawsuits will start ?

    lkruppJWSC
  • Reply 6 of 19
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Wonder when the class action lawsuits will start ?

    I’m retired so I see ambulance chasers advertising on TV all day long. When I was an entry level employee at AT&T I did a stint in the public business office. When I would call deadbeat customers asking them to pay their bill I would get a lot of responses that they would pay as soon as they got their “settlement” check. Some people apparently make a living suing other people and companies.
    ArloTimetraveler
  • Reply 7 of 19
    BxBornBxBorn Posts: 74member
    Safari is only blocking cookies. Apple has made no promises to block data collecting bats.
  • Reply 8 of 19
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    It is obviously wildly irresponsible of Apple to make the iPad case wide enough for a flying rodent to get inside.  And even if they didn’t make the case themselves, they are still responsible for allowing third party manufacturers to make one.  I would sue, sue, sue!
  • Reply 9 of 19
    techsavytechsavy Posts: 34member
    Well that is certainly interesting. Im glad the victim will come away from this with only an amazing story to tell.
    welshdog
  • Reply 10 of 19
    cescocesco Posts: 52member
    Relatives now understand why they kept receiving Messages in Dingbat font.
    Japheymike egglestonmacplusplusmacseekerfastasleepJWSCFileMakerFellerwelshdog
  • Reply 11 of 19
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    During this the man yelled "Get out of here you old bat". His wife hasn't spoken to him since.
    PickUrPoisonJWSC
  • Reply 12 of 19
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    Is that a Batman gauntlet he’s wearing? Worst origin story yet. 
  • Reply 13 of 19
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    techsavy said:
    Well that is certainly interesting. Im glad the victim will come away from this with only an amazing story to tell.
    Bats (and raccoons, foxes and skunks) have a very high rate of rabies If you are ever bitten by a bat you should seek medical attention, no matter how minor. Rabies is fatal and if you wait until you have symptoms it's too late.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,333member
    Never would have happened if Steve was still around...
    PickUrPoisonanomeJWSCbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 15 of 19
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    You can't really blame Apple for this, he was probably using an unlicensed iPad case. And he was probably holding it wrong. For every iPad user who has been bitten by a rabid bat, there are millions who haven't. This is just the alarmist press jumping on an isolated incident because it mentions Apple. How many Android users have been assaulted by lyssavirus bearing rodents that no-one ever mentions? But just because it's Apple, the press have to jump all over the story...

    Seriously, though, are rabies shots still delivered through the abdomen to the front of the spinal column? Because that's some seriously nasty stuff.
    FileMakerFellerbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 16 of 19
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    anome said:
    You can't really blame Apple for this, he was probably using an unlicensed iPad case. And he was probably holding it wrong. For every iPad user who has been bitten by a rabid bat, there are millions who haven't. This is just the alarmist press jumping on an isolated incident because it mentions Apple. How many Android users have been assaulted by lyssavirus bearing rodents that no-one ever mentions? But just because it's Apple, the press have to jump all over the story...

    ...
    Oh, here you go again.  Another Apple apologist.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    lkrupp said:

    Wonder when the class action lawsuits will start ?

    I’m retired so I see ambulance chasers advertising on TV all day long. When I was an entry level employee at AT&T I did a stint in the public business office. When I would call deadbeat customers asking them to pay their bill I would get a lot of responses that they would pay as soon as they got their “settlement” check. Some people apparently make a living suing other people and companies.
    Right, that’s the only possible explanation... </s>
    fastasleep
  • Reply 18 of 19
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    I thought that the anti-rabies protocol had been made easier for the victim over the years. It's fortunate that in the case the victim acted quickly when finding the bat dead. It could have been worse. From the Mayo Clinic's site:

    Once a rabies infection is established, there's no effective treatment. Though a small number of people have survived rabies, the disease is usually fatal. For that reason, if you think you've been exposed to rabies, you must get a series of shots to prevent the infection from taking hold.


    So he was bitten on day, and sought help the next. As an older person, this could have gone very badly. On the upside, the treatment doesn't sound as arduous as it once was.
    • A series of rabies vaccines to help your body learn to identify and fight the rabies virus. Rabies vaccines are given as injections in your arm. You receive four injections over 14 days.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    macgui said:
    I thought that the anti-rabies protocol had been made easier for the victim over the years. It's fortunate that in the case the victim acted quickly when finding the bat dead. It could have been worse. From the Mayo Clinic's site:

    Once a rabies infection is established, there's no effective treatment. Though a small number of people have survived rabies, the disease is usually fatal. For that reason, if you think you've been exposed to rabies, you must get a series of shots to prevent the infection from taking hold.


    So he was bitten on day, and sought help the next. As an older person, this could have gone very badly. On the upside, the treatment doesn't sound as arduous as it once was.
    • A series of rabies vaccines to help your body learn to identify and fight the rabies virus. Rabies vaccines are given as injections in your arm. You receive four injections over 14 days.
    That's definitely an improvement over injections into the front of the spinal column.

    Although it wasn't just the delivery that was nasty, the medication wasn't too pleasant, either, and knocked you around a bit. Still, better than dying of rabies. Just.

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