As of: April 4, 2024, 4:53 a.m
By: Romina Kunze
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A harmless needle prick turns out to be a life-threatening spider bite. The British survivor warns urgently about the false widow. They also exist in Germany.
Syke / Slough – “If anyone finds a false widow in their home, run away or kill her. In any case, don’t underestimate them!” warned Ivan Savage in an interview. The message is a matter close to his heart - and is based on his tragic experiences from last summer.
The 60-year-old didn't feel anything more than a needle prick, but the bite of this inconspicuous spider quickly developed into a life-threatening situation. First he lost consciousness, later he suffered sepsis. To this day he still has to worry about his hand in marriage. His story is intended to warn other people about the spider species.
A Briton's fight for survival after a spider bite: “Twelve hours from death”
To save his arm, doctors had to remove some of the tissue. The False Widow's poison threatened to spread and the wounds became infected. This resulted in septic shock. “Forget the beefy thugs; These little things are much more dangerous and deadly,” the Englishman told the British tabloid
Daily Mail
. It turned out that hundreds of these poisonous insects had settled in his home in Slough, a county south of London.
The tiny spider bit his right elbow first. Before he could shake her off, she bit him a second time, this time on his hand. Savage remembers getting up from his chair before everything went black. At first he didn't think anything of the bite, but then small black bumps appeared near the wound. A few minutes later he felt unwell and collapsed. He was able to make an emergency call before he lost consciousness.
Savage told the
Daily Mail
that he quickly developed a fever and his health rapidly deteriorated. It was only much later that he learned how close he had been to death. "When I woke up, the doctors didn't tell me how bad it was - they increased the dose of antibiotics, did surgery and luckily they were able to save my arm," he told the British tabloid. “They said I was twelve hours from death.”
Under the window sill: Over 500 poisonous spiders found in the house
He is happy to be alive, but his hand still feels numb; he has trouble moving them. During his two-week hospital stay, pest controllers discovered a nest containing about 500 false widow and Nosferatu spiders under a window sill in his home. Both species are also common in Germany.
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The false widow is small, almost inconspicuous. But the venom of the spider genus can even be dangerous for humans. A British man narrowly survived after being bitten. (Symbolic photo) © Imago
Although the climate in Germany is actually not ideal for the poisonous spider, two populations have already been identified here. The false widow originally comes from the Canary Islands and Madeira. In contrast to other exotic spider species, which usually reach Germany via imported fruit crates, the false widow is believed to have “entered” plants.
According to German scientists in the specialist magazine
NeoBiota
, the spider feels particularly comfortable in the earth. Therefore, they may have settled mainly in garden centers. You also have to be careful of poisonous plants in your home garden. Savage suspects his house near a river was the perfect breeding ground. In another case, a “killer beetle” turned out to be more harmless than expected.
Researchers warn of poison, but also bacteria - that's why false widow is so dangerous
A violent reaction like Savage's is not typical, but it can happen. According to the University of Münster, the false widow spreads a neurotoxin that can also be fatal to humans. The bite can be extremely painful and lead to a serious bacterial infection, a research team from the University of Ireland (NUI) has found. Such an infection can in turn trigger sepsis, as a result of which Fritz Wepper also died.
Until recently, experts believed that those bitten were responsible for such bacterial infection themselves by touching their bite wounds. However, this theory was refuted by the researchers' study. Instead, the bacteria enter the bloodstream of their victims directly through the insects. The team found a total of 22 species of bacteria on the false widow's body, 12 of which could potentially make people sick.
However, most spider species found in Germany are non-poisonous and harmless. However, a rare poisonous spider was spotted last year.
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