I almost lost a leg after false widow spider bit me in bed

Mum’s poisonous venom ‘agony’

A MUM came within an inch of having to have her leg amputated after a poisonous spider bit her while she was asleep.

Marie Hind, 34, woke up with a lump on her leg that left her in so much pain she could barely walk. Doctors at a clinic near her home gave her painkillers. But the mum-ofone returned the next day when the pain grew even worse – and medics told her she had been bitten. It is thought the culprit was a noble false widow spider – a venomous spider found in some parts of Britain. She was ordered to go to hospital immediately where she was told she needed an operation. Marie, 34, said: “I woke up in the morning and had a lump on my leg which was really painful. “I was in so much agony I could barely walk. The day following, the lump got bigger and started turning black. I went back to the clinic because the pain was horrendous and I had to cling on to the door frame just to stand.

“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, who has a seven-year-old daughter called Kaitlin and is married to Ricky, said her wound ultimately grew to 2.5cm round and deep.

The hole expanded into the muscle and she needed an op so the bite could be sliced and drained. Doctors said if it had been just a fraction deeper, she would probably have lost the leg.

The noble false widow is a relative of the deadly black widow spider. It is native to the Canary Isles and spread to the UK via cargo ships in the 1870s.

Marie said: “I didn’t think a spider bite could have caused that. We do have some spiders in the house but I have been advised to vacuum them up. And before I go to bed I search for spiders.”