A paraplegic teenager was left critically ill in hospital after she was attacked by rats as she slept.
A swarm of creatures bit the 14-year-old's face as she lay in her bed at the family’s rented home in the northern French town of Roubaix.
The girl, whose first name is Samantha, was found covered in blood by her father.
“There was blood coming from her ears - I was terrified that she might have had a brain haemorrhage,” he told the French newspaper Courrier-Picard. “She cannot get out of bed. Because of her condition, she is less sensitive to pain than we are.
“She must have felt the rats on her but did not have the presence of mind to call us.”
He added he initially thought his daughter had been the victim of a burglary gone wrong.
The teenager suffered 30 wounds on her feet and 45 to her face, a medical expert told France Info.
She suffered 150 lesions on her hands and the tips of some fingers were bitten off.
Tests for rabies came back negative as Samantha was vaccinated.
Police are now investigating the attack but according to reports, rubbish bins were reportedly left overflowing nearby.
The family has been moved from the home and the father has said he will sue the landlord.
