A woman has told of her horror after she was hospitalised for four days and suffered paralysis following a spider bite in her sleep.
Lauren Reid was left with a puss-filled hole in her arm after the arachnid attacked her in her home in Kingstanding, Birmingham.The 21-year-old temporarily lost the use of her left limb as the creature's venom spread through her body.
Experts are still analysing what type of spider may have caused the injury, with tests due to come back next month.
Describing the October 20 attack, Ms Reid said: 'I was in my bedroom asleep when I felt something crawl across my left arm.
'I pushed it off and noticed something sticking out my arm. It looked like a thick black hair. I pulled it out, cleaned it up and went back to sleep.' But by the time she woke up in the morning, the initially small, red mark on her arm had swollen to a huge lump.(continue)
She visited her doctor, who prescribed antibiotics and explained the wound looked like an abscess.
Ms Reid said: 'I was in an unbelievable amount of pain. My arm was paralysed and stuck in an upwards position. If I tried to move it, it felt as though my arm would rip off.'
The admin worker also suffered sickness, drowsiness and hot and cold flushes and was told it may take a few days for the antibiotics to take effect.
She said: 'My arm felt really hot and I had shooting pains. Eventually my friend told me we should go to A&E. She was that worried.
'When we arrived, the doctors looked stumped. I don't think they had seen anything like it, which was really scary.'
When things did not get better, she was admitted to hospital and stayed there for four days, being treated with intravenous antibiotics.
She added: 'I think if I hadn't listened to my friend and gone to hospital, I may have had to have my arm amputated.
'I was deteriorating very quickly. I'm back home now, but I don't even want to go to sleep in my bedroom. I'm shaking now just thinking about it. I'm scared to be on my own.'
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