British Man Develops Flesh-Eating Disease After Being Bitten By Spider

Nigel Hunt, a 59-year-old British man from the Isles of Scilly, narrowly escaped death after a seemingly minor spider bite that turned into a life-threatening ordeal. While lying in bed at home on August 30, Mr Hunt was bitten by a potentially deadly spider on his stomach. Initially, he felt no pain and thought nothing of it. However, just four days later, on his way to a holiday in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, he became severely ill, BBC reported. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors operated on his stomach after suspecting an abscess. 

However, further diagnosis revealed something far more serious- necrotising fasciitis, a rare and deadly condition known as "flesh-eating disease." He then underwent an emergency surgery, that saved his life. 

Speaking of the ordeal, he recounted, ''On arriving at the airport and travelling through check-in we made our way to departures. At this point, everything seemed to deteriorate quite quickly from being sick in the departure lounge to having my head in a sick bag for most of the journey. On arrival at Sharm El Sheikh, we collected our belongings and made our way to the pharmacy for some antibiotics or something to help with the sickness. They prescribed a couple of things and the following day we went to the hospital to be prescribed the same medication.''

''The next two days started to get worse so we went to a different hospital in Hadaba where straight away I had blood tests and ultrasound scans. Then we waited a couple of hours for the doctor to check the results. He called us in saying it was a good job we had come in because the bite was from either a false widow or a brown recluse spider,'' he added.

According to the NHS website, necrotising fasciitis is a rare and life-threatening infection that can happen if a wound gets infected and it needs to be treated in a hospital straight away.

Mr Hunt credits his second hospital visit with saving his life. He recalls, "If I hadn't gone back to the hospital for a second examination within that critical 6-10 day window, I wouldn't be alive today."

Although he's on the road to recovery, Mr Hunt still faces a long journey ahead. His wound remains open, requiring regular dressing changes every few days.

He has also issued a stark warning to his fellow residents on the Isles of Scilly. "I feel it's essential to alert everyone to be cautious and check for spiders," he emphasised.