Immediate leg amputation after spider bite while gardening

Bite of a "Fake Black Widow": man wants to saw off his leg after spider bite

An Englishman has lost his leg after biting a "Fake Black Widow". The spider bite had caused blood poisoning - amputation was inevitable. Previously, the man had threatened his doctor to separate his leg himself with a chainsaw.

Leg amputated after spider bite

The news will particularly worry people who are afraid of spiders: According to media reports had the 46-year-old Englishman Andy Perry his right leg amputated after the bite of a "False Black Widow". The spider bite had led to the landscape gardener to a blood poisoning (sepsis). The case occurred three years ago but has only recently become public.

A man from England had to be amputated after a spider bite his right leg. The bite of the "False Black Widow" had caused blood poisoning. (Image: 3drenderings / fotolia.com)

It started with back pain

As British boulevard media write, Perry is the first Briton to have lost his whole leg through a spider bite.

Three hours ago, the landscape gardener suffered from severe back pain 48 hours after a labor assignment, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

At the time, he did not know that he had been bitten by Britain's most toxic spider until he was taken to the hospital for blood poisoning and kidney failure.

Amputation over the right knee

He needed emergency care, was put on a drip and stayed in the clinic "Leicester Royal Infirmary" for one week..

Although the infection subsided in the next few weeks, but he had a lymphedema on the leg, which caused severe pain.

After numerous appointments with specialists, the patient, who by his own admission was in mortal danger, opted for an amputation over his right knee.

The father of two is now confined to a wheelchair, can not work or play with his children and needs daily treatment.

Pain in the back came from the kidneys

In various British newspapers is now reported what happened then: In 2015, Andy Perry from Huncote in County Leicestershire came home from work at home to take care of his two children.

"But after a few hours, I felt really bad," the newspaper "The Sun" quotes him. He called his wife, who then finished her shift work and also came home.

He spent most of the weekend in bed and had to vomit again and again. "Sunday morning was about getting to the hospital as soon as possible," says Perry.

At the clinic he was quickly told by a doctor that he had to stay. "He took me in immediately, the pain in my back came from the kidneys, caused by the infection and sepsis," said the 48-year-old.

Bite of a "Fake Black Widow"

In one exam, two bite sites on his ankle were discovered.

Because of the symptoms, the attending physician assumed that the bite came from a "Fake Black Widow".

The patient stated that she had not noticed the spider bite. "Apparently the bite of the fake widow feels like a bee sting, but I felt nothing. Spiders are much more common than humans think, "says Perry.

Second operation needed

Thanks to the treatment, although his kidney function and general condition improved over the next three months, the lymphedema swelled the leg so much that the skin split and fell off.

"It was all just a massive open wound and blistering and just cruel," the patient explained. "I spent some time getting myself treated."

However: "There was simply no surgeon nearby who wanted to touch it because of the lymphedema because it was a live infection."

Finally he was so desperate that he decided to take a drastic action: "At some point I had to threaten my family doctor to cut me off with a chainsaw because of my desperate condition."

In the end, he found a doctor who amputated his leg. However, it came after a secondary infection, which is why he had to be operated again.

The plan is now to wait until the leg stump is healed, "to get a prosthesis and go back to work this year or next."

Spider bite can put those affected out of action for days

According to media reports, over the past four years there has been a sharp increase in the "Fake Black Widow" in the UK. This is considered the most poisonous spider of the kingdom.

According to the information, the animal has already brought a number of British to the hospital.

Although the poison of the spider is not fatal to humans, but could have unpleasant consequences and Bitten incapacitated several days out.

Similar to the bite of a "black widow", spastic abdominal pain, headaches, high blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, muscle aches and muscle cramps can occur.

Even in Germany, the False Black Widow has already appeared sporadically. (Ad)