A Millmerran wildlife carer will undergo surgery after she was attacked while trying to save her husband from by a kangaroo on her property in the Darling Downs.
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Linda Smith, 64, suffered severe chest injuries, including a collapsed lung, broken ribs and multiple cuts to her arms and legs as well as other internal injuries at Millmerran, about 80 kilometres south-west of Toowoomba.
She was taken to Toowoomba Base Hospital on Saturday night following the attack and was expected to have surgery on Sunday afternoon.
Her husband, in his 60s, was taken to Milmerran Hospital after receiving multiple lacerations while her son, who is in his 40s, was treated on scene for minor injuries but did not require transportation.
Speaking from hospital on Sunday, Ms Smith said she had been a wildlife carer for the past 15 years.
“Around 30 kangaroos and wallabies come in each night to be fed,” she said.
“We feed them a mix of grain and chaff as with the drought there’s nothing out there.
“This one kangaroo came in and I thought it was Golly Gosh, one of the kangaroos we have raised.
"He was a huge grey, would have been at least six foot."
Ms Smith said her husband was feeding the kangaroo when it began to attack him.
“Jim was on the ground and the kangaroo just kept at him," she said.
“I went outside to try and help him and took a broom and a piece of bread but he knocked the broom out of my hand then attacked me.
“I got him off Jim and Jim got up and I managed to grab a piece of wood to defend myself with that.
“Then my son came out to try and help me and hit him over the head with a shovel.
“I have never been one to want to hurt animals.”
Following the attack, the kangaroo was last seen retreating into the bushland.
Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor for Darling Downs Stephen Johns said paramedics were unsure of what to expect following reports of the attack.
“On their arrival (paramedics were) certainly shocked to be confronted with such serious injuries to the patients involved,” he said.
“There were small kangaroos around but this particular kangaroo had well and truly left the area on their arrival.”
Mr Jones said with the severity of Mrs Smith’s injuries, the outcome of the attack could have been worse.
“....if the kangaroo was able to continue to conflict further injury her life (would have been) yes in danger,” he said.
“Attacks from what we gather are rare but they certainly have, particularly the large male kangaroo, have large main legs...have the potential to cause serious injuries and possibly death.”
Despite her injuries, Ms Smith said she understood what happened “was an act of nature”.
“When you’re a carer you learn the dangers of all the other kangaroos and you’re always aware they are wild animals,” she said.
“I am always careful, especially of the males. It’s breeding time so they can be more aggressive.
“I don’t want this kangaroo to be hunted down and killed, I love animals.
“I do understand what happened but I have never seen one that aggressive – it was in there for a fight and it wouldn’t back off.”
Ms Smith said she first became a wildlife carer after discovering a joey that had lost its mother on her 24-hectare property about 20 minutes out of Millmerran.
“I was out for a walk one day and saw this kangaroo on the fence. Two days later it was still there and we noticed there was a joey, so that was the start.”
Since then she has cared for many more joeys including ones she has affectionately named Honey, Cleopatra, Floyd, Golly Gosh, Sweet Pea and Dick Tracy.
