A Kangaroo Attacked a Woman on a Bike and Burst Her Breast Implants

A South Australian woman is in surgery after a kangaroo attack ruptured her breast implants, but she's not mad about it. Nature-lover Sharon Heinrich, 45, was cycling with a friend through the picturesque Clare Valley outside Adelaide when the large buck kangaroo attacked.

The kangaroo—who Sharon has nonetheless described as "cute"—jumped down from an embankment as the two women were cycling below, landing on top of Sharon. "He jumped down and took our cycles out and used myself as a little airbag," the 45-year-old told ABC Radio Adelaide.

The impact of the kangaroo toppled Sharon on her bike, rupturing her silicon and saline breast implants. She also sustained three cracked ribs, grazing and bruising, and will undergo surgery in Adelaide on Thursday.

Speaking to a local newspaper about the ordeal, Sharon explained that "when the surgeon saw me in Adelaide he said I was lucky to be alive—kangaroos are solid muscle and incredibly powerful. When he landed he went completely through me, if he had become caught in the bike the outcome would be a lot different."

Sharon is not looking forward to the painful surgery and recovery process, but retains a positive outlook. While the saline from the implants will dissolve, she explained that "the silicon congeals so it stays within the area but it's very painful."

"I'm scared and I'm not ready for the pain on top of the cracked ribs, because they're actually right behind that area, but at the end of the day you've just got to keep going," she said. Her fellow cyclist Helen Salter sustained concussion and whiplash from the altercation, when the kangaroo bounced off Sharon and onto her.

In the ABC radio interview, Sharon was forgiving of her attacker. "He was cute. He was a lovely kangaroo until he did what he did," she said, somewhat generously. Sharon was also eager to promote the scenic qualities of the Clare Valley region, worried that her misfortune would dissuade fellow cyclists from visiting the area. "Please don't let anybody be scared of that Riesling Trail, because it was a beautiful, beautiful ride before 'Skip' played," she said.

Kangaroo attacks in Australia are relatively rare, but when provoked they can prove particularly dangerous. In Victoria in 2009, a roo made headlines when it attacked a man and tried to drown his pet dog. Then in 2013, a gang of roos crashed through a window of a man's home in Echuca, leaving a trail of bloody destruction.

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