Brit almost loses hand after using drawing pin to treat black widow spider bite

17 August 2023 , 15:15

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James' hand swelled up hours after the bite which he thought was harmless. (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

A Brit almost lost his hand after performing a ‘DIY surgery’ on a false widow spider bite after his hand ballooned “like a boxing glove”.

James Beresford, 32, was walking in an overgrown field with a friend when he felt a pinch on his hand - which he assumed was a harmless bite. But after a green scab emerged and his hand swelled up eight hours later, he decided to take on the ailment himself.

James sterilised a drawing pin and pricked the wound to squeeze out the green pus from the false widow bite - but made a mistake. The pin went too deep, piercing the nerves in his hand. Surgeons had to both remove the infected flesh and address the nerve damage James had caused.

James, not a fan of spiders, said the doctors put him “straight in for an emergency operation” because his hand was “swollen, it looked like a boxing glove”. He said: “They didn’t want my hand getting any bigger because it could have cut the circulation off and I could have ended up losing my hand.”

"When they said that it was scary, I didn't want to lose my hand. I said 'whatever it takes, do it'. I had a look [while they operated] I nearly threw up everywhere. I'd also pierced my nerves so they had to repair them as well.

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James attempted to perform a DIY operation on the bite - which didn't go to plan. (Kennedy News and Media)

James' hand didn't look in the best shape following the ordeal. (Kennedy News and Media)

He added: “I was bothered by spiders before this. Every time I went to bed I'd always check the corners of my walls to make sure there were no spiders, I still do it now.

“I wasn't a massive fan of spiders to begin with. If I saw spiders now I would put them all in a shed and burn the shed down."

After a doctor at Morriston Hospital’s A&E department confirmed a puncture mark was a venomous bite, he was told it was likely to be from a false widow spider. Due to his hand swelling so rapidly, concerned docs rushed him in for emergency surgery the following day to relieve the swelling and save his hand.

James said: "There's a field, it's all grown over, near my friend's house and we were walking through it. I felt a little pinch burn on my hand but I thought nothing of it - I thought it was a gnat bite then within eight hours my hand swelled up like a balloon.

James says he will now keep a "wide berth" from spiders. (Kennedy News and Media)

Anyone bitten by a spider should get it checked straight away, James said. (Kennedy News and Media)

"I couldn't move it, I didn't have the use of my thumb. I noticed a green scab, I sterilised a drawing pin and I pierced it just to take the green out and squeeze some pus.

"But I also went a little bit too deep in my thumb and ripped out my own nerves. Eight hours later it went up like a balloon, my whole hand and thumb swelled up, it was double its usual size. It was very red and very angry-looking.

"You could see a puncture mark, the doctor who looked at it said it's definitely some kind of bite and that it looked like a false widow."

After being put on an antibiotic drip and given a tetanus shot, James was wheeled into surgery where the three-inch long wound was cleaned and stitched up during the two-hour op. Now, James is urging anyone who is bitten by a spider to get it checked out straight away, so they can afford the ordeal he went through.

James said: "I'm keeping a wide berth [from spiders]. If anyone else is bitten by one I'd say to definitely get it checked straight away."

Neil Shaw