A man was suddenly set upon by a rabid fox when he went for a sunrise stroll on a beach.

Shawn Gore and his family were on a holiday weekend visiting his parents in Ash, North Carolina, when he rose early on Sunday, July 3, for what he thought would be a relaxing stroll.

However, he became the target of the vicious animal who, out of nowhere, latched onto Shawn.

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“I immediately recognised that I was going to have to battle this animal,” he said.

“At the time, I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was a cat, you know, at first, but it latched on to me and was not going to let go until I ripped it from my body.”

His family heard the 5am commotion and ran outside and even tried to kill the fox.

They were unsucessful so called in the Brunswick County Animal Services, who had no such issues.

“It even tried to attack them guys,” said Gore’s Father Roger Gore. “But they kind of fought him back and everything.”

The rabid fox left wounds on its victims foot and ankle. After tests showed the fox had the disease which is fatal to humans, Shawn had to go through intensive treatment.

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“The treatments, I’ll spare you some of the worst of it,” Gore said. “But it’s not something you want to go through. I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital and getting the injections directly into each of the each of the wounds, and then additional vaccine in both arms.”

Gore and his family say that they were left scarred after what happened.

"This was a shocker. It could happen to anybody. I know. It’s rare. But be prepared," Shawn said.

Shawn's experience marked the third time a rabid fox attacked a person in the same North Carolina county in less than a month, officials said.

Rabies is a rare but very serious infection of the brain and nerves. It's usually caught from the bite or scratch of an infected animal, most often a dog, according to the NHS.

Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, but treatment before this is very effective.

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