An elderly Florida woman on an early morning walk with her husband Friday was savagely attacked by what her family believes was a wild bobcat, which scratched and bit her face, and mauled her wrist and hand.
The animal had jumped out from behind a car when it attacked Eslyn Fray, 85, of Lauderhill, who was on her routine 5am walk with her husband around their apartment complex.
Her husband Rupert Fray sprung into action to save Eslyn, say their relatives, however, the 71-year-old fell and broke his hip in the process. He and his wife both required hospitalization, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Eslyn Fray, 85, of Lauderhill, Florida, was on her routine 5am walk with her husband around their apartment complex when her family says she was attacked by a wild bobcat. The animal bit and scratched Fray (pictured above) on the face, and mauled her wrist and hand
Fray suffered scratches and puncture wounds (pictured above) from the animal attack. Her family says she is certain a bobcat was responsible after one was previously captured in her apartment complex
The bobcat attack also left Fray’s wrist and hand mauled (pictured above)
‘They are in pain, a lot of pain,’ Rupert’s brother Howard Fray told NBC6 outside the Broward Health Medical Center, where the couple was being treated and kept overnight.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the animal in the attack was a bobcat, although Eslyn’s injuries were consistent with a beast that would have been much larger than a domestic cat.
Wild Florida bobcats can weigh 20 to 30 pounds, officials say.
Authorities have brought in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to help in the investigation, and are asking the public’s help in locating the animal.
Fray’s husband of 19 years, Rupert (pictured above), sprung into action to try and save his wife when the animal pounced. However, the 71-year-old fell and broke his hip in the process. Both he and his wife required hospitalization
A neighbor walks along the path around the apartment complex where Eslyn and Rupert Fray say they were attacked by a bobcat. Authorities are now searching for the animal
Howard said his sister-in-law was sure she was attacked by a bobcat, because she had seen one of the animals when it was captured in her gated apartment complex two years earlier, the Sun Sentinel reports.
Eslyn and Rupert, married 19 years, live in a complex for residents 55 years of age and older, and have enjoyed their morning stroll for almost as long, say their relatives.
The husband is a retired postal worker, and his wife a retired nurse’s assistant. Both are from Jamaica.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the offending animal was a bobcat, although Eslyn Fray’s injuries are consistent with an animal that would have been significantly larger than a domestic cat (stock image)
Rupert Fray managed to call 911 shortly after the animal had pounced on his wife, who slumped to the ground after she was seriously injured.
‘She was on the ground bleeding, the whole place was full of blood,’ neighbor Veronica Wong, who rushed to the couple’s aid, told NBC6.
Howard, 63, said the couple was recovering, although his brother was having mobility issues because of his broken hip. He also had recently undergone open-heart surgery.
Bobcat attacks on people over the past two decades have been rare and normally reported in other parts of Florida, such as Cocoa, Tallahassee and Fort Myers, reports the Sun Sentinel.
Little has been reported about such attacks in South Florida, where Lauderhill is located in Broward County. The nearest, in fact, were in Central Florida in 2002 and 2005.