Former England and Tottenham Hotspur defender Gary Mabbutt has revealed how a rat ate part of his foot while he was asleep on holiday in South Africa.
The 57-year-old, who won 16 caps for the Three Lions, has type 1 diabetes and has little feeling in his feet.
Mabbutt was forced to fly back to the UK and spent a week in hospital following the incident during a trip to the Kruger National Park, where his daughter is working.
"All the opponents that I've played against and I finally get taken out by a rat," Mabbutt told BBC Sport.
"I've gone to sleep and during the night a rat has come into the bedroom, climbed into the bed and has decided to chew on my foot. It's made quite a big hole in my toe, going down to the bone, and ate underneath my foot.
"It bit my daughter's thumb first in the other bedroom, and then she came into me and said 'Dad, something's bitten me'. Being in Africa, you think of snakes and scorpions. Unfortunately the rat had had a nice meal and I hadn't been able to feel it."
Mabbutt is no longer able to kick a ball due to his condition, and has to inject insulin seven times a day.
Giuseppe Labellarte
