Fight for survival: British man bitten by poisonous spider - species also in Germany. The bite can be extremely painful and lead to a serious bacterial infection.
The false widow originally comes from the Canary Islands and Madeira. Researchers warn of poison but also bacteria - that's why false widow is so dangerous. A violent reaction like Ivan Savage's can happen to typical false widow, but it is not typical. Until recently, experts believed that those bitten by the spider were responsible for such bacterial infection, but this was refuted.