World of the Bizarre

Boy receives 'biggest ever' antivenom dose

By T.K. Randall
February 24, 2017 ·  4 comments

This is one spider you do not want to be bitten by. Image Credit: CC BY 3.0 CSIRO The 10-year-old had been helping his father clear out a shed at their home in Berkeley Vale, New South Wales when he was bitten on the finger by a spider that was hiding in one of his shoes.

The culprit turned out to be a funnel-web spider - one of the most dangerous arachnids in the world.

"It sort of clawed on to me and all the legs and everything crawled around my finger and I couldn't get it off," he later said of the incident.Matthew was rushed to hospital and was found to have been injected with so much of the spider's deadly venom that he required a record-breaking 12 vials of antivenom to neutralize it.

Incredibly, he was back on his feet in no time and was able to return home the following day.

"I've never heard of it, it's incredible," said Tim Faulkner of the Australian Reptile Park, a facility which 'milks' venom from dangerous snakes and spiders for the purpose of making antivenom.

"To walk out of hospital a day later with no effects is a testament to the antivenom."

Source: Sky News | Comments (4)

Tags: Spider, Australia