WARNING: This story contains image some may find upsetting
A runner was left unable to walk after being bitten by a ‘false widow spider’ while out jogging – that turned his lower leg black. Adam Abrehart was taking part in a 5km fun run with a running group in June when he was unknowingly bitten by a creepy-crawly.
The 34-year-old spotted two small fang marks on his right leg while showering that evening, suspecting the culprit to be a false widow spider. It was only weeks later that the dad-of-three began feeling unwell, suddenly vomiting and feeling exhausted out the blue.
The window cleaner then noticed the bite on his leg had turned red, and spread to the size of his hand the following morning. The dad grew even more concerned when his calf turned black, leading a fearful Adam suspecting he may have sepsis. After seeking advice from 111, Adam hobbled to hospital ‘barely able to walk’ where he was placed in a wheelchair and told he had bacterial skin infection cellulitis. Doctors told Adam the tissue around the bite had died, and placed him on a strong course of antibiotics before being discharged two days later.
Adam said the stressful ordeal has left him much more ‘wary’ about exposing his legs while out running – and he’ll wear leggings in future. Adam, from Shefford, Bedfordshire, said: “I’m part of a running club and was doing a 5km fun run in June when I got bit by something. I was running next to a river. I didn’t realise when I got home, went in the shower and looked at my leg and saw two red dots.
“I didn’t feel anything when I was running. It was healing, then all of a sudden it got infected towards the end of July. On August 1st is when it really started affecting me and the infection took hold of my leg. The bite started going really red. By that evening I was exhausted. When I woke up that morning, I couldn’t do anything.
“My leg slowly started hurting. The redness was getting bigger and bigger, it was the size of my hand by the morning. It was getting really itchy and I was being sick. By the afternoon it had gone halfway up my leg and the bite had gone completely black. I was thinking sepsis, alarm bells were ringing.”
After ringing 111, Adam was told to go to Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, to have his leg examined. The dad could ‘barely stand’ after arriving in A&E and was told he had a skin infection that had turned most of his leg black.
Adam said: “It was really painful, I couldn’t actually walk on it. By the time I got to the hospital, I was limping. I could barely stand up, they put me in a wheelchair and took me to the doctor. The doctor took one look at it and said I had cellulitis and it had come from the bite. They said it had gone black from where the skin had died around the wound.”
After a two-day stint in hospital, where doctors considered surgery, Adam was discharged. But the keen runner admits he will wear leggings, not shorts, while out running in future.
Adam said: “It’s my suspicion it was a false widow spider bite. I’m training for a marathon next year so this really put my training off. It’s made me a bit more wary about wearing shorts near the river. I’ll probably be wearing running leggings now.”
