A man from St Albans has described how a spider bite led to a life-threatening infection, leaving him critically ill and requiring eight operations. Paul Jory, 59, was bitten by a three-inch arachnid, believed to be a false widow spider, on 5 May while in his living room.
Mr Jory, managing director of a marketing firm, said he felt a tickle on his hand and noticed the spider. It bit him on the inside of his elbow, causing pain like an electric shock and swelling the size of a golf ball. He was taken to Watford General Hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma and spent nearly five weeks in hospital.
He developed necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating infection, and lost chunks of muscle and flesh from his upper arm. Mr Jory now has only 40% movement in his right arm. He credited NHS staff with saving his life, saying, 'Without the care I received, I'd be dead.'
False widow spiders are considered Britain's most venomous, but bites are rare and they are not usually aggressive towards humans. They are often mistaken for the more dangerous black widow.
