SHE'S been bit, cut, scratched and terrorised, but teenager Jade Bassett holds no grudge against her unlikely attackers.

The 13-year-old suffered deep wounds to her thigh and cuts to her back, face and hands on Tuesday after being set upon by a pair of eastern grey kangaroos on a bush track in the NSW Hunter Valley.

News_Image_File: Jade Basset, 13, with her grandfather Kevin Henderson at Walka Water Works, where Jade was attacked by wild kangaroos / Picture: Waide Maguire News_Image_File: Injuries sustained by Jade Bassett in an attack by wild kangaroos / Picture: Waide Maguire

Jade, a keen runner and budding athlete, described yesterday how she was jogging along a popular dirt path in the Walka Water Works reserve about 5pm when she saw a group of three "huge" roos on the path ahead.

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"You see kangaroos around there all the time and usually they'll just take off to the side, but these ones just stood there," she said.

"I thought: 'That's weird', but I kept running and went around them, then all of a sudden the smallest of the three came up and started hopping beside me.

"That one took off into the bush but then I heard this horrible hissing and grunting behind me. I turned around and the biggest one had reared right up and was baring its teeth."

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There began an assault that lasted several minutes, with two of the three kangaroos kicking Jade with their huge lower limbs, grabbing her hair with their clawed hands and dragging her to the ground.

Bite marks on the Year 8 student's hands showed yesterday where she tried in vain to defend herself, while other, deeper bite wounds on the back of her thigh revealed the ferocity of the attack.

"It just kept going and going and going," she said.

"I realised my hands weren't going to do anything to stop them so I leant back and was trying to use my legs and my feet, but they were just too tall and strong."

News_Image_File: Eastern grey kangaroos like these attacked Jade Basset as she jogged along a path at Walka Water Works.

Jade eventually managed to get up and run, but the two kangaroos chased her and continued their assault until Jade's grandfather, who had been sitting near the trail head awaiting her return, heard her cries for help.

Together with other runners who turned up shortly after the attack, he bundled his granddaughter into a car and rushed her to hospital, where she was treated for her wounds and given antibiotics.

"Whenever I close my eyes I can still see them and hear that awful noise they were making," Jade said.

"But it was just a case of being in the wrong place in the wrong time. I wouldn't say I'm not scared of them now, but I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them. I still think they are beautiful animals."

News_Image_File: Maitland Council is planning to erect new signs at the site warning of the threat the kangaroos pose / Picture: Waide Maguire

Maitland Council, which manages the site, is planning to erect signs warning of the potential threat of kangaroo attacks following the incident.

Australian Reptile Park macropods expert Mike Drinkwater said it was extremely rare for kangaroos to lash out at humans.

But while most people considered the marsupials to be docile, they did have the capacity to do serious harm.

"The most likely scenario is that these were males and there was a female or multiple females in their mob in season, which puts them into a state of rut," Mr Drinkwater said.

"They're more likely to stand their ground when in rut, they'll challenge one another and stand up taller to make themselves look bigger and they'll be a lot more vocal. That's usually a precursor to getting into a combative scenario."

News_Module: Walka Water Works Reserve