UPDATE: The family of an elderly Hamden woman attacked by a raccoon has been informed that the animal was rabid.
The woman’s son told Fox CT they had received a call from Animal Control confirming the raccoon had rabies.
An 88-year-old woman is recovering in her home after she was attacked by a raccoon.
It happened on Brinsmade Road in Hamden Sunday night inside the home of a woman named Betty.
Betty told Fox CT she was letting her cat inside when unknowingly a raccoon followed along as well and it soon attacked her.
"The thing about it that was so frightening was it's awful strength," said Betty. "When it jumped on me it was on me and I’m pulling on it and everything else, the thing was terribly alive and terribly strong."
Her son Rory McKernan said his mom was much stronger.
"She is 88 and she is stronger than I thought she was."
Betty was bit on her elbow, hand, forearm and face. When police arrived the raccoon was euthanized.
McKiernan described the scene inside his mother's home after the attack.
"My brother kept saying it looks like a crime scene on TV, there were splatters, hand prints, puddles and things like that," said McKernan.
The couch cushions have since been thrown away, bleach has been poured throughout the living room.
Betty will continue to heal and once she does life for her will go on as it once was.
"Oh I'll be alright it just takes time for various things to heal and then I'll go back out and walk the garden path again."
As for Betty's cat they are still looking for it. It ran away during the attack.
The raccoon is being tested for rabies and other diseases at the Connecticut Public Health Lab.
