Lorry driver left with massive gaping hole in his hand after he was bitten by a false widow spider
A LORRY driver was left with this massive gaping hole in his hand after he was bitten - by a venomous false widow SPIDER.
Arachnophobe Chris Whittock, 57, was folding tables at an agricultural show when the eight-legged beast sunk its fangs into his skin.
At first, the married dad wasn't worried when red marks appeared on his left hand, right thumb and knees.
But over the next three days, the bite on his hand began to swell and eventually he was left with an itchy, painful golf ball sized lump.
Chris took himself to hospital, where he was placed on an IV drip and given a course of antibiotics.
He was kept in for four days, during which time doctors sliced open the swelling on the back of his hand to remove a build up of fluid.
It left a giant, gaping hole in his hand which Chris believes was caused by a violent allergic reaction to the spider's poison.
He claims when he first saw it, he passed out.
Chris, who lives with wife Susie, 59, in Frome, Somerset, said: "If you aren't scared of spiders you ought to be now.
"This has all been quite scary and the bite has put me out of action for weeks. People need to be aware of false widow spiders."
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Chris was bitten on Saturday, September 17 while packing up tables at the West Woodlands showground in Frome.
Two weeks later, his hand remains in a bandage and he's not able to work.
He said: "It all started with a red spot on the back of my hand.
"It then evolved into a bit of a nightmare with me having to eventually wrestle my wedding ring off.
"There were tracks up my arm and my fingers were all swollen and burning."
Chris went to A&E at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Somerset, last Friday, where doctors said he had "definitely been bitten".
The HGV driver, who will need to stay off work for the next two weeks, said: "They lanced open this big lump and washed out whatever was inside.
"When they took the dressing off there was a hole in the back of my hand big enough to get a golf ball inside.
"I passed out when I first saw it. I was sat down and the next thing I remember was two faces over me."
"There are two things I hate most in life, spiders and snakes, and so this has been especially frightening," he added."
False widow spiders, which usually grow to the size of a 20p coin, have dark, shiny bodies with orange legs and pale markings.
They pack a poisonous, painful bite which can trigger serious allergic reactions and are considered to be the most venomous spiders in Britain.
It is believed that the false widows arrived in Britain in the 1990s, in bunches of bananas being being shipped over from Madeira and the Canary Islands.
Sightings of the species have increased in recent years due to a string of warm winters and generally peak in September as males seek females to breed with.
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