Warning of False Widow spiders after man has leg amputated

A dad-of-two has spoken of his horror after he fell seriously ill after being bitten by a false widow spider - which led to his leg being AMPUTATED.

Andy Perry, 46, is believed to be the first Brit to lose an entire leg from a spider bite, after he almost died when the creature sank its fangs into his ankle.

He had been working as a landscaper when he fell ill with severe back pain just 48 hours after a fencing job in Thorpe Astley, Leics.

Andy had no idea he had been bitten by Britain's most venomous spider until he was rushed to hospital suffering from sepsis and kidney failure.

He required emergency care, was placed on an IV drip and remained at Leicester Royal Infirmary for a week.

Over the next few weeks the infection subsided but he was left with lymphedema - a painful and debilitating swelling of the leg, which left his skin falling off.

He said the pain got so bad that he even considered chopping off his own leg with a chainsaw.

After numerous appointments with specialists Andy opted for an elective amputation above his right knee, which was carried out in March.

Wheelchair-bound

He has now been left wheel-chair bound, unable to work or play with his children and needs daily treatment.

Andy, of Huncote, Leics., who lives with his police officer wife Christine, 39, said: "I was doing a quote for a job in 2015 and I was coming home at lunchtime to look after the kids because my wife was on shift.

"But within a couple of hours I started feeling really poorly.

"I rang the missus to see if she could come home but she couldn't and the next I know I got a massive ache in the small of my back.

"That was pretty much me done then and Christine came back home when I called her again.

"I went to bed when she got back, pretty much for the whole weekend and I was throwing up.

"Then on the Sunday morning it was a question of having to get over to the hospital as soon as I could.

"I was seen by a doctor in the Royal Leicester Infirmary Triage and he said there was no chance of me going home.

"Then he admitted me straight away, the ache in my back was the kidney's packing up from the infection and sepsis.

"I put on a IV anti-biotic and almost died because of the sepsis."

Blood tests

Experts believed the false widow spider was to blame after daily blood test when a phlebotomist noticed two puncture marks on Andy's ankle.

The doctor in charge deemed the bite to be from the false widow spider - as its bite has similar effects that Andy was experiencing.

Andy added: "It was the phlebotomist who did my daily blood test - he spotted these little puncture marks on my ankle.

"He said it looks like a spider bite, they then got the doctor in charge to have look and that's what they came to agreement on.