The woman reportedly fell asleep in a farm’s sheep pen while drunk and was found the next morning by a horrified passerby. She’s now recovering at a homeless shelter deemed a fire hazard
A homeless woman lost both her legs after they were eaten by rats when she fell asleep drunk in a farm’s sheep pen.
The woman, named only as Marina, was found in a shocking state by a horrified passerby in Stavropol Krai, Russia.
By the time she reached the hospital, gangrene had set in and the remains of both legs had to be amputated, according to local reports.
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Marina, 60, said: “I got drunk, and the rats ate me.”
She is now recovering at a homeless shelter in the city, which local officials want to close down as a fire hazard.
Olga Shiryaeva, head of the Helping Hand shelter, says the woman has no documentation and no one else to turn to.
Olga says Marina is making friends and slowly recovering, but her family have not been willing to speak to her.
She said: “She owns nothing at all, and has nowhere to go. In addition, she has to be carried anywhere and needs to wear diapers that need to be changed.
“We contacted her brother but he said he had not spoken to her for years, and asked us not to call him again. He told us ‘she made her choices’.
“Right now, if I say, ‘Marina, are you going to drink?’ she’ll say, ‘Yes. Pour me some.’ And she still manages to smoke.”
According to the NHS website, gangrene is a serious condition where a loss of blood supply causes body tissue to die.
Around 11,000 people are thought to be homeless in Russia, according to latest statistics, and alcoholism is feared to be on the the rise.
In 2023, The Moscow Times reported Russians purchased 2.3 billion litres of hard alcohol, surpassing the previously established record of 2.2 billion set the year before.