Local News

‘What if I get the black plague?’: Woman says bunny-sized rat bit her foot in Fenway

She speculated in a TikTok video that she may have “accidentally stepped on” the rat’s tail, which caused it to bite her.

Min Namgung, a 23-year-old consultant, said she was walking to her car on Friday when a rat bit her on the leg. Min Namgung

By Sana Muneer

August 6, 2025

2 minutes to read

Min Namgung was walking with her boyfriend Friday night on Mountfort Street near Fenway Park when, she says, she felt a sharp pain in her left foot.

“The next thing I know, I feel a sharp pain in my leg, and I look down and I’m bleeding,” Namgung told CBS News Boston. “I see something scurry along, and of course it’s a f— rat.”

Namgung, 23, was wearing Birkenstock sandals, she said, and was bitten on the back of her ankle.

She speculated in a TikTok video that she may have “accidentally stepped on” the rat’s tail, which caused it to bite her.

She rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and received the first of many tetanus and rabies shots, she said.

“I thought it was like a bunny, it was so big,” she told CBS News Boston. “My boyfriend pulls his phone out, puts the flashlight camera on, and I see it bleeding and I’m like ‘Oh, that rat probably bit me.'”

While in the emergency room, she took to TikTok to share her story. The video she posted has more than 20,000 views and almost 500 comments, as of Wednesday night.

Recounting the story, she wondered to herself if her leg would have to be “chopped” off or if she’d contract the “black plague.”

Min Namgung, a 23-year-old consultant, was walking to her car on Friday when a rat bit her on the leg. – Min Namgung

After Namgung’s rat encounter, which spotlights Boston’s larger rodent problem, Boston’s Inspectional Services Department said it conducted a “thorough walkthrough” of the area where the incident occurred.

During the walkthrough, ISD workers distributed fliers to residents’ apartments on Mountfort Street that included information on how residents can get in touch with ISD if they see any rodent activity.

“The City is continuing to take an all of government approach to reduce rodent population across Boston’s neighborhoods and keep our neighborhoods safe and clean,” a City spokesperson told Boston.com in an email. “This summer, we are coordinating across departments to deploy several innovative, neighborhood-specific measures to address rodent hot spots.”

Boston also launched a Boston Rodent Action Plan in April aimed at reducing rodent activity. One initiative includes implementing more than 250 sensors citywide to track rodent activity.

“I’m now able to laugh about it, but in the moment, I was freaking out,” Namgung told CBS News Boston.

The city requests residents to contact 311 regarding any rodent activity they see in their neighborhoods.