Pages

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Civil servant, 31, almost loses her arm after being bitten by house spider... in SURREY


A 31-year-old civil servant almost died after being bitten by a normally-harmless house spider while in bed at her home in Britain. Natalie Hemme, of Wallington, Surrey, suffered horrendous swelling to her arm that blocked the blood flow and turned her limb septic. The astonishing bite resulted in her developing Compartment Syndrome, a condition which saw muscle and flesh on her arm begin to die.
 Horrific pain: Mrs Hemme visited an NHS clinic and was told her injuries appeared to be a house spider (file picture) bite. She was then prescribed antibiotics

Horrific pain: Mrs Hemme visited an NHS clinic and was told her injuries appeared to be a house spider (file picture) bite. She was then prescribed antibiotics

‘It was agony,’ Mrs Hemme, who has since recovered, told the Sun. ‘I was lucky to survive. You’d expect it in Australia - but not in Surrey.’ There was a possibility that her arm could have been amputated after it turned life-threateningly septic - but it was saved after five operations.


Trouble began in February, when she woke up to see a red bite on her left wrist, before her arm began to swell and throb over the next two days. Mrs Hemme visited an NHS clinic and was told it appeared to be a spider bite. She was prescribed antibiotics and told to take paracetamol. But things got worse over the next two days and her husband Michael, 35, called 999 after she started throwing up green pus and couldn't stand up.
 Location: Mrs Hemme suffered the bite, which caused horrendous swelling to her arm, in bed at her home in Wallington, Surrey (file picture of area)

Location: Mrs Hemme suffered the bite, which caused horrendous swelling to her arm, in bed at her home in Wallington, Surrey (file picture of area)

Her muscles and nerves were dying. Surgeons spent three days removing infected tissue before they used flesh from her thigh to rebuild the arm. She spent three weeks in hospital but is now back at work now after physiotherapy, although her arm still bears the scars of what happened, reported the Sun. Experts told the newspaper that house spiders have fangs big enough to penetrate human skin - but are not known to attack people. Mrs Hemme told the Sun: ‘I know I have been very lucky to survive and keep my arm. I can’t believe all this happened over a spider bite. ‘I now sleep with my window shut and check the bed before getting in.’

Source: Daily Mail UK 

Please share

No comments:

Post a Comment