Man left with oozing deep wound after being bitten ‘by a false widow’ spider as he slept in bed
Rich Pollitt woke up with a sore arm but didn't think anything of it. Five days later he had surgery to drain the oozing wound. He believes he was bitten by a false widow spider after researched spider bite wounds online.
A KITCHEN repairman has been left with a deep oozing wound after being bitten by a spider as he slept.
Rich Pollitt woke up with a sore arm one day but didn't think anything of it until it began to swell up.
After the swelling persisted for five days, he went into hospital and ended up having surgery.
Doctors at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital in north Wales told the 33-year-old that he had been bitten by a spider.
After some internet research, he found the wound resembled that of the deadly false widow.
It is one of the few venomous spiders found in Britain.
Speaking to the Daily Post after being discharged, the kitchen maintenance engineer told how he woke up with a sore arm after staying over at a friend's house.
Initially, he thought nothing of it, but after five days the swelling had got worse and the wound had started to ooze so he decided to go to A&E.
He had to have surgery to drain the weeping hole which had become infected from the venomous bite.
He said: “They’ve left the wound open because it needs draining regularly so I have to go to the doctors every day to have it cleaned and the dressings changed.
“The pain is the worst I’ve ever been through, it felt like someone was using a blowtorch on my elbow.
“During the week I was in hospital, I was kept on morphine for the pain and now I have to take antibiotics and painkillers."
He said he is lucky he didn't catch sepsis and admitted he should have gone to A&E sooner.
How can you spot a false widow spider?
- The false widow is a medium sized spider with a round, brown body and cream coloured markings
- Its legs are a reddish-orange colour
- Females range in size from 9.5 to 14mm while males are 7 to 11mm
- The spider's body and legs will have a glossy appearance
- The species closely resembles the black widow spider, aside from its colouring
Experts say the species are not normally aggressive towards humans and bites are rare, but if the spiders are caught in clothing, prodded or squashed they may attack.
The females bites are more severe than the males and typically result in intense pain radiating from the bite, along with fever.
There have been no reported deaths in the UK resulting from false widow spider bites.
But, there have been a number of alleged incidents where people have had severe reactions and required hospital treatment.
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