A WOMAN almost lost her leg to a spider bite after the wound got infected and a deep hole appeared.
Marie Hind is now warning anyone who is bitten to get themselves checked by a GP if they see similar symptoms.
The infected spider bite on the back of Marie's leg
The mum-of-one had to have surgery after the bite created a mass which attached itself to her leg muscle. During the operation, the doctors found poison, which confirmed it was a spider that had bitten her.
Marie, 34, said: ‘I woke up one morning last month and had a lump on my leg which was really painful. I was in so much agony I could barely walk.
‘I went to the walk-in clinic but was told to take painkillers. The days following, the lump got bigger and started turning black. I went back to the walk-in clinic because the pain was horrendous and I had to cling onto the door frame just to stand.
‘The doctor said it looked like the bite had got bigger and advised that I go to A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital.’
The doctor said if the infection went a little bit deeper or I had left it a couple more days, I could have lost my leg.
Marie Hind
While in A&E, Marie had an X-ray and a scan for septicaemia. It was then she was told she needed immediate surgery on her leg.
‘I was told it would take about an hour to slice the bite and drain it,’ she said.
‘But when I woke up, they told me it took longer because the bite was so deep.
‘It was one-and-a-half centimetres into my leg and was attached to my muscle.
‘The doctor said if the infection went a little bit deeper or I had left it a couple more days, I could have lost my leg.
‘It was scary hearing that and I didn’t know a spider bite could cause that.
‘We do have some spiders in the house but no more than anyone else. I have now been advised to vacuum them up in case I get bitten again.’
Marie, who lives in Gosport, is taking antibiotics and has to have the wound packed every day.
She does not know what type of spider it was or why the bite got infected.
She said she could have been allergic to the poison or just had a bad reaction.
‘I have seen in the news quite a lot lately about people having bad reactions to spider bites in the UK,’ she said.
‘If people see a lump getting bigger or turning black, they should get it checked out straight away.’
Paul Hetherington, from insect conservation society Buglife, said there is only one venomous spider native to England – the noble false widow.
He added: ‘There are only three others that can actually pierce human skin but they aren’t poisonous.
‘It is likely the bite got infected from bacteria getting into the wound.’
