Brothers let black widow bite them in hopes of turning into Spider-Man
Three Bolivian brothers, ages 8, 10 and 12, were hospitalised after they let a black widow spider bite them in an attempt to turn into the Marvel superhero Spider-Man, the New York Post reports.
The unnamed boys reportedly goaded the spider into biting them by poking it with a stick. When their mother found them crying, she immediately took them to a health center, Virgilio Pietro, a Bolivian official told Telemundo.
The brothers were transferred to a local hospital before being transferred again to the Children's Hospital in La Paz. They allegedly experienced muscle pain, tremors and fevers. The children were discharged on May 20, a week after the incident.
Known for an hourglass-shaped mark on their abdomens, black widow spiders have a dangerous bite — their venom is 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake, according to National Geographic. Most of these arachnids are the size of a paper clip and can live up to three years in the wild.
In the comics, Spider-Man, whose real name is Peter Parker, received his superhuman powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider.
- This story first appeared on In The Know
