Horror for girl bitten on her cheek by false widow spider
A SCHOOLGIRL bitten on the face by a suspected false widow spider while she slept may be scarred for life after her cheek swelled to the size of a golf ball.
Amelia Nielsen, 13, found two sinister puncture marks in the morning.
The wound, thought to have been caused by Britain’s most venomous spider, expanded rapidly and she was admitted to hospital within days.
Amelia had developed potentially-fatal cellulitis, a deep skin infection, and was treated at Bradford Royal Infirmary with antibiotics. Doctors have warned she will have to wait a year before the full extent of any scarring becomes clear.
Her mother, Adele, fears a false widow spider was to blame. Mrs Nielsen, of Bradford said: ‘It’s just frightening to think it could happen to a small child or baby.
‘ Cellulitis can kill you ultimately.
‘That’s extreme but if someone doesn’t know what’s going on or how to treat it, it can be extremely dangerous.
‘She will have some scarring but we won’t know for another 12 months how bad that’s going to be. It’s her face – for a girl of 13 that’s quite scary.’ Mrs Nielsen said: ‘She probably felt something in the night and either moved or tried to brush it away and that’s why it had bitten her.
‘She got out of bed in the morning and was scratching her face and said ‘it really hurts’. You could see it was swollen and could see two puncture marks. I can only assume it was a false widow. Apparently normal spiders don’t do that.’
False widows are thought to have reached Britain in 1879 in a crate of fruit from the Canaries and can survive outdoors here but will scuttle inside for winter shelter.
Their scientific name is steatoda nobilis and they are usually just over an inch across, with skull-like markings. The bite can cause victims’ limbs to swell. If bitten, you should wash the wound with soap and water, and avoid scratching. If pain persists, see a doctor as antibiotics may be required.
Dr Chris Hassall, a biologist at the University of Leeds, said false widows are one of very few spiders in the UK that can pierce human skin. He said: ‘False widows are not very common this far up north – it’s unusual to find them in your house.’