Australian hiker is first redback spider bite fatality for 60 years

A 22-YEAR-OLD man has died after being bitten by a poisonous redback spider during a bushwalk on Australia’s east coast – the first time such an incident has proved fatal in almost 60 years.

Jayden Burleigh, from Sydney, who had been hiking on the north coast of New South Wales, was treated in hospital after he developed an abscess under his left arm that affected his glands.

He was discharged and given a course of antibiotics but died two days later.

It is not yet clear whether Mr Burleigh was treated with anti-venom.

There have been no recorded deaths caused by a redback since 1955, a year after the antivenom was introduced.

Mr Burleigh’s parents, Mike and Deborah Burleigh, said the cause of Jayden’s death was unlikely to be confirmed for several weeks. His death comes a year after the couple lost their younger son Lachlan in a car accident.

“What we do know is that only a week ago he was in hospital, recovering from an infection due to a redback spider bite,” they said.

“He had a general anaesthetic to drain a severe abscess at Nambour hospital [in Queensland] and was there for four days.”

Australia is notorious for its wide range of large spiders, but most species pose little threat to humans.

The redback, a relative of the black widow, is found across the country, including in cities, but is one of only two deadly spiders in Australia. The continent’s other deadly spider is the funnel-web, often labelled the world’s most dangerous spider.

A spokesman for the Nambour hospital said she could not comment on whether Mr Burleigh was given antivenom.

“Due to patient confidentiality legislation, we are unable to provide comment on a patient and/or their medical history without their or their legal guardian’s written consent,” she told

The Daily Telegraph.

More than 2,000 people are bitten by a redback in Australia each year. Bites can cause severe pain, sweating, muscular weakness, nausea and vomiting, but are rarely lethal.

Only female redbacks are dangerous but they rarely leave their webs.

Mr and Mrs Burleigh said the loss of their son left “an immensely deep hole on this planet”.

‘What we do know is that only a week ago he was in hospital, recovering from an infection due to a bite’