When Colin Blake noticed that his toe was turning purple and starting to swell, he knew something was wrong.
Blake, who is from Cramlington, Northumberland, told the BBC he first noticed the discolouration of his toe while on a cruise in France celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary. After visiting the ship’s doctor to examine him, he was informed that he had been bitten by a Peruvian wolf spider, which had laid eggs in his toe.
Wolf spiders are often found in French city ports after arriving on cargo ships.
The ship’s medical team cut open Blake’s toe, draining pus. The liquid reportedly appeared to contain leaves, which turned out to be spider eggs.
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According to a source, Blake was bitten by a spider while he and his wife were eating outdoors in Marseille, France. He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Drivetime that he did not feel the spider bite him. This breed is reportedly known to immobilize its prey before laying eggs.
“My wife thought maybe it was because I had new sandals on and they were rubbing my big toe and it was red,” Blake said on the radio show.
After Blake returned to the UK, he was admitted to hospital and given antibiotics to reduce the swelling. After the swelling went down, bite marks from where the spider had bitten Blake could be seen on his foot.
Although Blake should make a full recovery, four weeks after the initial discovery, he again noticed something strange with his toe. He later learned that the doctors had missed the spider’s egg when they were cleaning the fluid from his toe. Doctors cut Blake’s toe open again and removed the spider – which was killed by antibiotics.
“One of the spider eggs was not washed off and must have hatched,” he said. “They believe the spider is on its way out – eating through my toe.”
“I asked if I could keep it, but they said no,” he added.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education