A woman’s leg had to be surgically removed after it was bitten by a “harmless” spider.
Mum-of-five Kristal Joseph was bitten on the sole of her foot by a white-tailed spider near Penrith, Sydney, in February earlier this year.
Found in many homes across Australia, the spider caused what initially appeared to be a small ulcer but soon morphed into a monster infection that left her hospitalised.
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Normally bites from white-tails are painful and can cause some irritation and inflammation, but are not considered life-threatening.
Kristal, 29, had been set to start work in her new “dream job” in a funeral home, but that plan was shelved on March 1 because of the horror development.
Desperate efforts were made to clean the wound and remove dead tendons, tissue and skin, undergoing 10 debridement surgeries over a period of 12 weeks.
Despite the best efforts of medics, though, the injury remained and the infection continued to get worse.
Things would go lower still though, when husband Callum received a call saying Kristal had suffered stage five kidney failure and had just 48 hours to live.
The infection continued to get worse, moving through her bones, tendons and ligaments.
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Eventually, medics were left with a choice – lose the leg, or lose Kristine.
Speaking to theDaily Mail, husband Callum recounted the horror.
“It’s totally life-changing,” he said.
“It’s taken a huge emotional, mental and physical toll on Kristal. The whole process has been such an ordeal for her and our family.”
He’s still miffed about what has happened.
“The doctors thought the bite would go away by itself but it turned into a big blister and started oozing,” he said.
“She had to undergo an urgent debridement a few days later. They ended up removing half of her ankle.”
AGoFundMehas been launched for the family, with Callum having taken time off work to care for his wife as she recovers.
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