SYDNEY • A kangaroo that jumped onto a woman cycling in South Australia ruptured her breast implants and used her as a "little airbag", the woman told local media yesterday.

Ms Sharon Heinrich, 45, was on the Riesling Trail in the Clare Valley with her friend last week when the "cute" kangaroo she has nicknamed "Skip" jumped half a metre down from an embankment and landed on her, she told a local newspaper, the Northern Argus.

"I saw him and thought, 'Oh, isn't he cute' - then he was on top of me. I'm 5 feet 4 inches and he was taller than me, and so heavy. Once he landed on me, he used me to launch off again, which caused more damage," she said.

Ms Heinrich, who is 1.63m tall, said the kangaroo then bounded on her friend, Ms Helen Salter, 47.

"He... took our cycles out and used me as a little airbag and then (took) Helen out and hopped away into the wilderness," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Ms Heinrich said she suffered ruptured breast implants, three cracked ribs, grazes and a numb leg, while Ms Salter had concussion and whiplash.

"(The implants) are silicon and saline, and the saline will just go through your body, but the silicon now congeals so it stays within the area but it's very painful - it's up there with cracked ribs," she told ABC.

Ms Heinrich said she would undergo surgery in the city of Adelaide tomorrow to replace her breast implants.

She has urged other cyclists to keep using the trail despite the encounter - albeit with care.

"Please don't let anybody be scared of that Riesling Trail because it was a beautiful, beautiful ride before 'Skip' played," she said.

"But tourists from the city have no idea -I really think there needs to be signs placed along the trail to warn people about them."

The Clare Valley has a large number of western grey kangaroos, which are common across southern Australia.

"They jump without warning and at the last minute - people need to be careful," Ms Heinrich told the Northern Argus newspaper.

Ms Heinrich has made light of her encounter on her Facebook page, featuring pictures of herself with a toy kangaroo as she recovered.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE