Have People Really Lost Arms And Legs To Spider Bites?

January 16, 2017

There have been stories in the past that pop up telling about a spider that brutally maimed and mutilated a poor blind grandmother, or something of that nature. However, the truth is rarely as dramatic as news outlets want you to believe. In cases where a spider bite victim did lose a limb, it was often due to the physician's lack of understanding regarding spider bites. One widely reported case of spider bite induced amputation told of a guy in Seattle who had his arm amputated following a feverish illness caused by a spider bite. At the time, the media blamed the incident on a spider bite, but they did very little research. The bite was not, in fact, caused by spider venom, rather a bacterium that causes gangrene was found at the wounds location. Not only did the media get the facts of the case wrong, but they never printed a retraction or correction. So you can be afraid of spiders all you want, but you don't have to worry about losing your arm every time you spot a daddy long legs in your basement. Have you ever known a person that became ill as a result of a spider bite?