hi,
i am going to tell you something which is hard to believe.
i am now back in sydney for two weeks. have always wanted to share this experience with you but just did not know how to begin, until i saw a magazine from the Art Gallery of NSW with a very impressive photo, the photo of a fox with its mouth wild open. this brings back memories of an incident which happened to me while i was in Stowe, it was so vivid that i know i have to write it down and share with you.
Rabbit
while i was in Stowe, Vermont, USA, i stayed in a resort which has 29 acres of land, with fields, forests, gardens, etc. its like a paradise.
The next morning after i arrived, i went into the marketing office (a few blocks away from my room) and saw a no. of staffs looking out of the window, i joined them and saw a beautiful red fox running across the shrubs. it was about 11.00 am.
In the afternoon, at about 4.30 pm, while i was looking out at my bedroom balcony, i saw the same fox running across the grass down below towards the back of the building and i hurried outside. the fox hid under a car and a couple tried to drive it away. i had my camera with me but was not able to take any pictures because the fox ran away quickly. i then went back to my room, got a coat and wanted to go out to buy groceries. as i was going out, still in the back garden, a lady asked if i had seen the fox. i looked around and said no. i was ready to go away and then the lady said, 'there it is, under a shrub.' i hurried over, and saw the fox hiding under a shrub, about 20 ft away from me. i took out my camera and took a few pictures.
then the fox came out, i thought it was running away and hurriedly took another couple of pictures. to my great horror and surprise, it was not running away, it ran cross me and attacked and bit me from my back! it initially bit on my coat, it was biting very hard and would not let go (fortunately i was wearing my sisters coat which was quite long and covered my behind, otherwise there wouldn't be anything left of me from that area). i tried to shake it off, it then bit on my sneakers, i tried to shake my foot and it then bit on my ankles.
by then the lady and a security guard near me tried to help me. the guy kicked on the fox, it flew off about 5 ft away and lied on the grass, no movement. so i said 'now its dead'. however the guy said, 'no, its pretending'. we waited for a few minutes and yes, it was on its feet again and tried to chase us. no wonder people say that foxes are cunning.
the lady and i went into the building. i checked myself and saw a few scratches and a teeth mark on my ankles, and blood was coming out. then a couple from another room came out and said: 'the fox could have rabbis, there is a rabbis outbreak in vermont, you better go to the hospital or you will be very sick.'
i was shocked and stunned. i have never, in my whole life, come across rabbis and do not know what i should do. anyway i hurried to the reception and reported the case. the receptionist said he will get medical help and asked me to wait.
after waiting for about 20 minutes, a team of policemen came and asked if i was one of the ladies attacked. i said, as far as i know, i was the only one attacked and bitten. anyway, the team said they had to catch it to examine it. i was told not to move and put my foot up. not knowing anything about it, i thought maybe its like bitten by a snake and the quicker you move, the quicker the poison will go thru your body, so i sat very still.
another 20 minutes past and then came an ambulance. as soon as the medical team came, they asked: 'you were bitten by a rabbit', and i said, no, i was bitten by a fox. they wanted to put me on a stretcher but i refused. so they put me on a wheelchair and then on the stretcher in the ambulance. i had never enjoyed watching ER on tv but found myself suddenly becoming part of the cast.
on arrival in the hospital, a doctor came along and again said to me, (obviously the hospital had been informed about the incident) 'you were bitten by a rabbit', at that point, i really cannot hold myself and asked, 'i was bitten by a fox, why did everyone say i was bitten by a rabbit?' the doctor told me that an animal which contracts rabbis is called a 'rabid', not a 'rabbit'. i couldnt help laughing at my ignorance .
then the doctor gave me two vaccine injections, one is tetanus (sp) and the other is antirabbi vaccine. she said that they had caught the fox, if the test is rabbi negative, then i do not need further treatments, however, if the test is positive, i will need to have a series of injections on certain dates, and its vitally important that i get all the injections according to the specified dates.
according to the schedule, i will need another two injections on the third day. however, i would have left vermont and will be in montreal on transit to toronto on that day. i therefore begged the doctor to give me the vaccines for the third day, just in case i needed them.
somehow i had a feeling (maybe this is what we call the buddhist wisdom) that it would not be easy to get the vaccines in such a short time in montreal. at first the doctor did not agree, saying that if the test is negative, then i would not need them. but i said: if the test is positive, and i cannot get the vaccines in time, my life would be at risk. finally the doctor agreed.
Montreal
i arrived in montreal at about 5.00 pm the next day. on arrival at the hotel i got a call from the medical department in vermont telling me that the test result is positive, which meant that the fox did have rabbis and asked me to make sure i get the injections the next (3rd) day - a saturday, and carry thru with the rest of the treatment afterwards.
again, with blessing, the hotel receptionist found a nearby medical surgery which opens on saturdays and i went there the next morning. both the doctor and the nurse were shocked to hear what happened, but was pleased to help with the injections. i then asked the doctor for prescriptions to buy the rest of the vaccines. the doctor said their clinic does not carry it and asked me to check with the pharmacies.
when i was at the pharmcies, the pharmacist told me that they had never heard of this vaccine before and suggested that i go to a vet! so all of a sudden i have become an animal!
Toronto
On arrival in Toronto, my sister immediately helped me check with a no of pharmacies, finally one of them said yes, they know about the vaccine and could order them in for me. so i got a couple of more injections in toronto. by the way, the doctor in toronto said the he had never come across a similar case, and its one of a million chance that this could happen.
Karma
maybe some of my friends will say, lydia is always chanting, she is protected. why would this happen to her?
when i told my brother in law what happened, he, being a buddhist, said: so, you flew all the way from the other side of the world to be bitten by this fox in USA? so this must be your karma.
yes, to be honest, this fox seemed to have followed me the whole day, from 11.00 am until 4.30 pm, its a wild fox and should have gone far during the 6 hrs, somehow it kept coming back to me. when i wanted to abandon looking and go shopping, the lady pointed me to the fox. it all seemed destined.
The Blessing
yes, i was bitten by a fox, i was shocked, but then somehow deep inside me, i knew i would be alright. i know i would get all the blessing and help i needed. i trust in the gohonzon, and just knew that i would be alright.
if this had happened while i was driving alone in the forest the day before (remember my email about autumn leaves? i drove around the wilderness alone for 8 hrs), it could have been much much more serious, or i would just look at the wound and put some antiseptic cream and forget about it. however, it happened when there were other people with me to help and remind me of the danger of rabbis and to get immediate treatment.
therefore, instead of sulking, i thanked the gohonzon and am very grateful. i was given sufficient medication and treatment in urgent need and that sure is a blessing indeed!
The Difference
after i got back to the hotel from the hospital, they told me that yes, there was another lady which was attacked by the fox earlier, she had a club in her hand and beat the fox and she was not bitten. (if you look carefully in my photos, you can see bruises on the fox's leg). however, she made a big scene out of it and the hotel staff said that, compared to her, i was very calm, poised and wonderful.
this is the difference when we practice buddhism and chant nam myo ho renge kyo. we know whatever happened, we would be alright, we have faith in the gohonzon and would react differently to adversities.
The Mission - Turning Negative into Positive
after i recovered from the shock, i tried to recall the incident and knew there was a lot of negligence on the part of the state of vermont and on the part of the hotel.
the state of vermont should have made known to visitors that there is an outbreak of rabbis and warned visitors to stay away from wild animals, people, like us, come from australia, we face wild animals like kangaroos, koalas, etc. all the time and our level of alertness is not high. if i had been warned, i would never ever go near any of them.
also if there was a lady being attacked earlier, and if the fox had been running around the hotel property for a whole day, the hotel should take action to alert, warn and protect its guests, espectially when there is a fear of rabbis.
as soon as i gathered my thoughts together, i called the top hotel managment and the staff at the medical department of vermont and strongly request that they put out signs and warnings to prevent similar inicidents happening. i said : i understand tourism is important to them, but they owe this to all the visitors and guests. its bad enough that i was bitten, however, if this could prevent further people from being hurt, then the pain i went thru has served its purpose.
so this is my way of turning negative into positive, to help other people with my own experience. also, the medical experts in vermont said that after going thru all the treatment, i am immune to rabbis and would get myself a job in the vets. 
To end this email, i would like to tell you that medical expenses in the US are skyrokettingly high. i just got a bill from the hospital, for the injections, etc. the bill was about US$2600, the ambulance was US$450. therefore in future, if you want to travel to the US, plesae please make sure that you have enough travel insurance coverage.
i hope i have not bored u with this long email.
lydia
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