Spider bite leaves dad with 'rotting stinking' hole in his leg after morning run
A spider bite left a dad with a hole in his leg that stunk of "gone-off meat" and looked like it was "rotting" after he went for a morning run.
Kevin Tomlinson set out for a five kilometre run in a field near his house in Doncaster, on the morning of Friday 14 July. After completing his exercise, the 57-year-old returned home where he noticed a two-pence sized bite on his upper right thigh.
He remembered that around halfway during his run, he’d sat down on a log in a clearing and felt something bite him - but had just dismissed it as a mosquito and continued his run. But, when he woke up the next morning, the bite had grown in diameter and he was starting to feel feverish.
Knowing something wasn’t right, he rushed to Doncaster A&E and was seen within 30 minutes by a doctor who told him he had been bitten by a false widow spider. The dad-of-two was “shocked” to see the painful wound on his thigh. He had suffered a bad reaction to the bite which had become infected.
Kevin was told it was a false widow spider bite that left to his injury (Kennedy News & Media)
Kevin Tomlinson (Kennedy News & Media)Stomach-churning snaps show the infected wet sore on his upper right thigh, leaving a rotten 'black hole' on his leg that smelled like 'gone-off meat'. Kevin, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, said: "I had just sat down on a log in a little clearing area [on my run].
Mum bitten by false widow spider in her sleep causing oozing patch of dead flesh
"By 8pm that evening I started to feel feverish and it [the bite] was just getting worse and I felt terrible. The next morning, I woke up and I struggled to get down the stairs and I knew something was wrong and I needed to go to hospital.
"I was struggling to walk because I was in a lot of pain and it was easily the size of the bottom of a tin of beans or maybe bigger at this point. It smelt a bit like gone off meat. It wasn't as bad as that but it was similar to this. It looked like a huge black hole. The skin looked all black and it looked like it was rotting and smelt a bit like gone-off meat. It wasn't as bad as that but it smelt similar."
Kevin was then given a dose of antibiotics by the doctor and sent home. He took the prescribed medication for five days but when he felt like the oozing hole was getting worse and the antibiotics didn't seem to be working, he visited his local GP on Thursday 20 July.
The 'rotting' wound that stank of 'gone-off meat' (Kennedy News & Media)
The scar left from the horrific spider bite (Kennedy News & Media)He said he was given a stronger dose of antibiotics and was told by the doctor they might have to 'carve out' the bite if these pills didn't work. But luckily after four rounds of antibiotics, Kevin's leg finally began to heal and scab over.
Kevin, a former restaurant worker, said: "The GP examined it [the bite] and understood why I was worried. I asked what would happen if these new antibiotics didn't work as I had visions of me having to have my leg off. The GP said that if they didn't work one option that may have to happen as a push would be to go to hospital and have it cut out."
Kevin said the bite has now almost completely healed but he has been left with a two-inch red scar on his upper thigh. He is now urging people to go straight to A&E if they think they have been bitten by a false widow spider.
Kevin said: "By the third week it [the bite] was noticeably getting better and by the fourth week it had shrunk to a scab which meant I wouldn't have to go and have it carved out. I've been left with a two-inch circle scar on my upper thigh. I went out [last week] for the first time on a run since it happened but I won't be sitting down on my runs again. I definitely don't want to go through this again.
"Luckily mine is on my upper thigh so it isn't very visible but someone could have been bitten somewhere where you can see it more, which is worse. I would say to people don't wait for it to get worse. If you think something is wrong, go straight to A&E and get it checked out and get some antibiotics."
The dad has since joked that he won't be sitting down to take breathers on future runs and will be motivated to just keep going.
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