A mum carrying her toddler through the garden barefoot has issued a warning after she ended up in hospital with a rake impaled through her foot.
Mary Doyon was enjoying a casual chat with her next-door neighbour in the sunshine moments before the shocking incident unfolded.
The 26-year-old was carrying her two-year-old son, Odin, when she stepped on an old garden rake.
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Instead of swinging up to hit her in the face, cartoon-like – as she predicted – it went straight through the right side of her foot, becoming deeply lodged.
Mary shared the shocking scenes in a TikTok which has garnered 23 million views.
“I had my son in my arms so I was worried about him and got him to safety,” Mary, a stay-at-home mum and children’s book author from Houston, Texas, told Need To Know.
“I told myself not to panic.
“The pain was there but the adrenaline was way stronger.
“When the paramedics showed up, they asked how I was, to which I joked, ‘Average Saturday I’d say!”
“Both paramedics were struck when they saw my foot, and gave me strong pain medication.
“The firefighters had to come to cut the rake off.”
When Mary arrived at hospital earlier this month [July 2026], she recalls people taking pictures of her foot, dumbstruck by the sight – and even claims the doctor who pulled the rake out stopped to snap a picture first.
Somehow, she was able to keep her good humour throughout the ordeal, saying she was able to crack jokes rather than cry – still feeling the adrenaline of the shocking incident.
Mary said: “I never bled and the rake was super rusty.
“It actually belonged to my husband’s great-grandfather, supposedly.
“What a shame and a waste of a good rake!
“I’m built tough, but I was [actually] terrified.
“I have no idea how I wasn’t shedding tears or even passing out.”
Mary was kept in hospital for just a few hours while doctors treated her foot.
They did an X-ray and administered four shots of lidocaine before removing the rake fully, flushing it with saline, and left the wound open to drain given the rake had been “extremely rusty”.
It was then bandaged, and after returning home, Mary was advised to keep it clean and keep weight off of it as much as possible while it healed.
She said: “I wasn’t able to step on my foot for two weeks.
“I couldn’t afford to go back to the doctor to get a check-up so I ended up borrowing my friend’s old crutches.
“I used to be a ballerina so walking on my tip toes wasn’t an issue for me, but I should have stayed off of it more because I still experience nerve pain every now and then.
“After two weeks I started trying to put pressure [on the foot] because my life was getting difficult.
“I am able to walk on it now but that part of my foot is very sensitive.
“I find it hard to wear most shoes and if I bump it into something it is unimaginable pain.”
Mary decided to share what happened on social media, where she was stunned by the huge response.
She said: “Posting the pictures following the incident was hilarious because I didn’t realise how many people would have been drawn to it.
“I do look crazy though, I had a rake in my foot – and I was smiling!”
Incredibly, despite her ordeal, Mary still refuses to cover her feet outdoors.
She added: “People keep telling me to wear shoes, but I won’t be doing that – I’m too lazy to put on shoes every time I go into my darn yard!
“But moral of the story is – you should probably wear shoes, even when you’re in your backyard, and never let your rakes have too much freedom.”
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