Woman hospitalised after spider bite in Hull

Updated
Woman hospitalised after spider bite in Hull
Woman hospitalised after spider bite in Hull

A woman bitten by a spider in her living room was rushed to hospital when the bite developed into an agonising golf ball-sized blister.

Julie Roberts, 41, was left hardly able to walk, and had to be fed antibiotics through a drip after being bitten by a pale spider in her home.

The mother-of-four was hospitalised for two days after the bite turned bright red and continued to grow in size.

What started off as just a small spot swelled into a huge lump filled with pus and the ankle became stiff and painful.

Julie told Caters News: "The doctor said it could have poisoned my blood. The whole thing was terrifying.

"I was struggling to walk and started to panic. The bite had become a huge bump and was leaking horrible yellow stuff.

"I can't believe something so little could cause so much damage. You expect to hear things like this in Australia or Africa, but not in England."

The secretary from North Hull had just put her son Kameron, five, to bed when she decided to put her feet up for five minutes on the 21 August.

She was watching television when she felt a nip on her ankle and look down to see a big pale spider on her foot.

Julie said: "I've never been scared of spiders, it's unlucky to kill them, I just brushed it off. It was a pale-whitish colour and had a really small body, but really long legs.

"A woman at pest control has since told me it could be a Genus Pholcus spider, but I don't know what kind it is, I hope I never see it again."

Woman hospitalised after spider bite in Hull
Woman hospitalised after spider bite in Hull

Julie went to the doctors and was given some antibiotics to take, but her condition quickly worsened.

Huge painful blisters had formed around the bite and Julie decided to go to hospital.

She was admitted on the Tuesday evening and wasn't allowed back out for three days while doctors battled against the spider's venom.

Julie said: "I was in so much pain, I just couldn't believe such a little thing could have made me feel so ill.

"When I explained the injury the hospital admitted me straight away and put me on antibiotics through a drip. But my bite then turned white and continued to grow and grow."

The blisters swelled to the size of a golf ball and twice burst, while Julie was laid up in a hospital bed.

Over three weeks later Julie is still experiencing pain from the bitten ankle.

She said: "At the moment it is healing quite well, but it has taken a long time, and it still hurts me.

"I will always have a scar on my ankle."

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