A mum bit by a false widow spider says she was covered in bruises so horrific, doctors at first thought she’d been in a car accident.
Tracy Keeble, 43, from Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, had been walking her dog Dottie last month (22 July) when she believes she was bitten by the critter.
The mum-of-three decided to opt for sandals rather than her normal hiking boots due to the extreme heatwave and when returning home noticed a bite on her ankle.
At first, she shrugged off it as a red ant bite and treated it with her usual insect bite cream – but over the course of the next few weeks, Tracy was shocked to find marks spreading across her arms and dark bruising on her legs.
The Product development executive made a trip to hospital where doctors ran blood tests and told her she may have been bitten by a deadly spider.
Venom from false widow spiders are 230 times stronger than native UK species and can win battles against other spiders as well as shrews and bats.
“It’s caused me so much faff, I’m just disappointed I can’t climb ceilings and make my own webs like Spiderman,” Tracy, who lives with husband Rob, 44, and son Will, 16, told NeedToKnow.online.
“When I first saw the bite I just thought it was from a red ant or something and didn’t think much of it, I thought it was my own fault for wearing sandals.
“But over the next week it started spreading and when the bruising happened I thought I had sepsis.
“I thought I was going to have to loose a leg or something, I was really panicking.
“When I turned up to the hospital, the bruising on my legs was so bad doctors kept asking me if I was a victim of trauma. I looked like I had been in a car accident.
“I get why they asked and it’s good that they did but I just can’t believe I’ve had all this from a spider.
“It hurts to wear jeans, I have to turn up to the office in linen and loose fitting clothes.
“I can’t have the duvet over me at night because it feels too heavy. It feels like having a dead weight on top of me.
“It’s been really upsetting.”
Tracy saw her GP a few times before her diagnosis and was allegedly prescribed with antibiotics but two weeks after the dog walk rushed to A&E with a fever and black bruising.
Tracy said: “The doctors even did a photoshoot of my bruising.
“I feel like I’m going to be in some sort of textbook soon.
“They were saying they hadn’t seen anything like this before.
“I was there for a few days as a day patient and had visits from the dermatologist.
“They can’t say for certain but they think the bite has triggered something else and I’m having blood tests for rheumatoid and muscular infection.”
Now over a month since the bite, Tracy has seen the bruising ease up but is still dealing with the side effects.
She added: “My legs are still quite tender but it is getting a bit better. It’s starting to heal at least.
“It’s just really difficult to sleep because of the aching. To be honest, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in five weeks.
“I just want to warn people as I didn’t think this could happen in the UK.
“When I tell friends or colleagues, they end up Googling it because they just don’t believe it.
“I’m just petrified of spiders now.
“Beforehand I was always the one to get rid of them in the house and would do so humanly – get a glass or a tissue or just leave them to it. They help with flies after all.
“But the other day my husband pointing one out and I just lost it and had to get my son to get rid of it asap.
“My heart was beating out of my chest. I’m absolutely petrified now.
“But I have to think positively as it is getting better.
“I’m joking to people that I should sue Marvel as I’m struggling to make spider webs from my wrists.”
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