Woman visiting Arizona hit with steep medical bill after bat flies into her mouth

PHOENIX (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A woman visiting Arizona was hit with a steep medical bill after a bat flew into her mouth.

It's a day Erica Kahn will never forget.

"It was both very gross and startling," Kahn expressed.

Kahn lives in Massachusetts, but last year, she traveled to Arizona with her dad to explore and take some photos.

"We love to go to national parks and see, you know, those beautiful landscapes, and we're also interested in Astro photography," Kahn shared.

They went to Horseshoe Bend to take some pictures at night when she noticed something flying right above her.

"We kind of heard and saw some bats flying around. I never would have thought that one would fly into my face, but that happened," Kahn explained.

She was in the middle of taking a picture of the sky when she says a bat flew right into her face and got stuck between her mouth and the camera.

Her natural reaction was to scream.

"It went into my mouth," Kahn said while adding it made her scream even more. "It was a freak accident. I'm not sure what part of the bat was there, but there was definitely a I got a taste of it, which was pretty grip, and it tastes a little earthy, a little sweet, if you're wondering."

She spat the bat out and it flew away.

Kahn says she wasn't bitten, but her dad who is a doctor told her she needed to go to the hospital right away to get a rabies shot.

The problem is, Kahn says, she didn't have health insurance, saying she lost her job a couple months before the incident and didn't want to pay for the Federal COBRA Plan.

Knowing the shots were going to be expensive, she quickly signed up and was told she would be covered, but that wasn't the case.

"I went to four different hospitals over the course of my four rabies shots. And, yeah, so now I have my close to $21,000," Kahn remarked.

A decision Kahn wishes she made sooner.

"I took a gamble, and I'm really, you know, kicking myself down, and I've learned I'll never do that again, but it's, yeah, COBRA is expensive, but it's more expensive to get these, you know, $20,000 bills when a bat flies into your mouth," Kahn spoke.

All from an accident she never thought in a million years would happen.

"Now, I'll know to be careful and not to open my mouth, and maybe I'll wear a mask or something as a precaution in the future," Kahn declared.

Kahn created a GoFundMe to help pay for her medical bills. It has a goal of $12,000, with $925 raised so far.

If anyone wants to donate to the GoFundMe, click here.