2-year-old left needing stitches and rabies shot after being attacked by a raccoon at Massachusetts playground: ‘It happened so fast’

A two-year-old boy was bitten and scratched by a raccoon at a popular Massachusetts playground Friday afternoon, prompting local police to warn families to remain alert.

The incident occurred at Wayland Town Beach in Wayland, a wooded community about 20 miles west of Boston. Grayson Cohen was playing on a jungle gym with his nanny when the animal lunged from behind the structure and attacked him.

The child’s father, Spencer Cohen, said the attack occurred so quickly that the nanny was initially unaware of the full extent of the interaction.

“It happened so fast,” Spencer Cohen told NBC10 Boston. “She didn't even know he was bitten until she got him in the car seat.”

When the nanny brought the toddler home, Cohen saw how severe the injury was and took his son to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

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“I got a text saying he had an ‘encounter’ with a raccoon,” Spencer Cohen said. “I didn't know what that meant — until I saw how significantly he had been bitten.”

The two-year-old had a deep bite and several scratches across his rib cage. Hospital staff administered three stitches, and the child began a standard course of rabies vaccinations, which are most effective when initiated immediately following a potential exposure.

“We’re so grateful to our wonderful nanny for acting fast and the staff at Newton-Wellesley Hospital for getting him stitched up and vaccinated immediately,” Spencer Cohen said in a statement to The Independent. “He is a very brave boy and he's already back to doing all the things he loves from playing tee ball to running around outside.”

The boy’s mother, Megan Cohen, said the physical damage was more severe than she had anticipated.

“I kind of imagined maybe a small scratch,” she said. “But when I saw that he had a bite on his rib cage, and scratches, it looked a lot worse than I expected.”

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The parents described the ordeal as overwhelming for the family, particularly the process of watching their young son undergo medical treatment.

“These are things you just never hope your 2-year-old needs to go through,” Megan Cohen said.

For the Cohen family, the location of the attack remains the most concerning aspect of the incident.

“Wayland is a very wooded community, and we have wild animals in the area, but you could encounter — especially raccoons — you could encounter them all over the city,” Megan Cohen said.

The Wayland Police Department launched a search of the area surrounding the beach playground but reported that officers had not yet located the raccoon involved in the encounter.

The department issued a public safety notice advising residents to exercise caution around local wildlife, particularly animals displaying unusual behaviors. Because raccoons are typically nocturnal, police warned that daytime activity, unprovoked aggression or disorientation could indicate that an animal was sick.

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