UW Lambda Chi Sophomore Treated For Rabies After Bitten By Bat

El Taco7 years ago

Of all the diseases you’ve been worried about contracting (or have already contracted) while at college, I’m guessing rabies was likely pretty far down the list. However, that fear became very real after a member of the University of Washington’s Lambda Chi was bitten by a bat that later tested positive for rabies.

From KOMO:

The sophomore and his friends were swimming in Lake Union, behind Husky Stadium, around 2 p.m. Saturday when they spotted a listless bat on the dock, according to a fraternity member. Curious, the man approached the bat.

“Some kids, little kids, noticed it, and they were over there around it and he went over there, just checking it out, and it ended up latching onto his hand,” said Ian Spendlove, president of the UW chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha.

Big mistake. Huge.

I’m pretty sure bats are in that same category as snakes and large spiders — if there’s one nearby, grab a hockey stick, slap shot that shit as far away from you as possible, then burn down the surrounding 10-mile radius.

Likely the most surprising thing about this story is the bat wasn’t flying around the fraternity house before it struck. There’s something about a bat panickingly flying around a beat-to-shit fraternity attic as the least senior members venture in to retrieve five-year-old paint cans for a philanthropy banner that just seems so, so right.

Instead, this sounds like much more of a self-inflicted error, one that I’m sure he immediately regretted. Don’t pick up bats, mmk? Just don’t do it. I thought that was something everyone was taught in grade school, but apparently our minds go to shit after a little while.

But don’t worry: The sophomore is expected to make a full recovery from the bat bite. So, naturally, it’s time to make fun of him.

From KOMO:

On Wednesday the bat bite had become a joke inside the fraternity.

“We’re giving him a hard time, he picked the bat up, it latched on to his finger, ended up with rabies. It’s not an everyday occurrence,” Spendlove said.

That’s what your friends are there for..

[via KOMO]

Image via Shutterstock