Man Collapses After Being Bitten Ten Times by a False Widow

Verneph · Feb 23, 2012

A father collapsed in a toy shop after he was bitten ten times by the UK’s most dangerous spider.

Chris Galton had been shopping at children’s store Toys R Us with wife, Zoe, and one-year-old daughter, Imogen, when he suddenly became unwell and dropped to the floor.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2103818/Father-collapses-bitten-10-times-UKs-venomous-spider-falls-HOOD.html

I'm having a very difficult time believing the spider even had enough venom to inject ten times. Perhaps his reaction was to the initial bite? I'm not sure, the article is very sensationalistic...

SDCPs · Feb 23, 2012

At least he isn't dead.

skippy · Feb 23, 2012

If i was wearing a hoodie and felt a sting on the back of my neck, i think i'd take the hoodie off and shake it out to make sure i wouldn't get stung again.

i mean, that sucks but it's kind of his fault for not being on top of things, no?

hamhock 74 · Feb 23, 2012

Ten will do ya...

The Snark · Feb 23, 2012

Just curious. How many people have died from bites stings stomps squishes etc from various animals in the time it took to read that article? How many hundreds from motor vehicle accidents?
What is with this sensationalism that distorts our view of reality so drastically?

paassatt · Feb 23, 2012

Verneph said:
I'm not sure, the article is very sensationalistic...

As are most articles about spider bites.

ZergFront · Feb 23, 2012

The Snark said:
Just curious. How many people have died from bites stings stomps squishes etc from various animals in the time it took to read that article? How many hundreds from motor vehicle accidents?
What is with this sensationalism that distorts our view of reality so drastically?

+1 Ditto! Also, wouldn't the first and second bite be cause enough to... I don't know... do something about it? :wall:

He lived? You've failed us natural selection!

Michiel · Feb 24, 2012

When you get bitten ten times in a row, and you would not be able to prevent sting 2 or 3 to 8, it is definitely natural selection.....Sting 1: hey, I felt something prickly on the back of my neck, oh well who cares.....Would be a normal thing to think, but what did he think from sting 2- 8...Aaaah....duuuuhhh huh, there is that stingy feeling again, oh well, who cares??? These are the ones that can be missed in the genepool.....
But then again, we could loose the author of that article too.....

lizardminion · Feb 24, 2012

False widows aren't related to true widows.
I hate articles like these; people have an misinterpreted animal phobia so news articles overreact about a simple incident. This causes havoc for both spider and snake keepers. It's not like dogs, because people are mauled almost everyday by domestic dogs. One python may have killed somebody within a 5 year range. Oh, but let's care about the phobia animals. That just gives a bad name to the people who have them as pets.

Comatose · Feb 24, 2012

The Snark said:
Just curious. How many people have died from bites stings stomps squishes etc from various animals in the time it took to read that article? How many hundreds from motor vehicle accidents?
What is with this sensationalism that distorts our view of reality so drastically?

I actually read another article about this... it went like -

Roar! The world is dangerous! Live in fear! Spiders are scary! Roar!

loxoscelesfear · Feb 24, 2012

Ryan the Roach Guy said:
False widows aren't related to true widows

same family, different genus. Snakes, spiders, exotics in general get a bad rap. The article is sensationalized, yes, but the worst source for putting the bad rap on exotics is Animal Planet. I hate that channel. With shows like Infested (where people are the victims not the invaders), documentaries about burms destroying Florida's ecosystem, Rattlesnake Republic (a show about rounding up rattlesnakes on AP, wtf?).

Lopez · Feb 24, 2012

For anyone not from the UK, the Daily Mail is a generally sensationalist newspaper. I think the link below sums up the paper's stand on the whole:

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Daily_Mail

Verneph · Feb 24, 2012

The Snark said:
Just curious. How many people have died from bites stings stomps squishes etc from various animals in the time it took to read that article? How many hundreds from motor vehicle accidents?
What is with this sensationalism that distorts our view of reality so drastically?

Agreed. I remember I read an article about a year ago that was about a man who was arrested for possessing a bunch of illegally imported venomous snakes and his girlfriend had died from a bite "apparently". The article didn't bother me too much, but one of the comments and many like it did. It went something like: "I can't believe people would own these creatures! These kinds of people will pay for it one day when their children are swallowed by one of these monstrous reptiles!"

And people were agreeing with that! But a story about a dog mauling a kid? "Oh, the dog must have been abused! How horrible!" Yea, sure, snakes and spiders are evil but dogs are too cute and cuddly to treat the same way. I just don't understand why people automatically assume things about animals they perceive as "creepy". I suppose it doesn't help when Animal Planet runs shows about "the deadliest spider/snake/creepy thing in the world" and then exaggerates, or doesn't even mention, the actual death-rate caused by the animal is question.

I still can't get over that. Bitten ten times? Really? I've never heard of that before. Closest thing I can think of is being stung by a swarm of bees, and that's at least more than one creature.

compnerd7 · Feb 24, 2012

That is so absurd I lol'd... Media overreaction a bit? Maybe he was bit by 10 spiders at the same time! Or maybe it was radioactive spider genetically engineered to rapidly bite it's victim at lightning speed!

I understand why a lot of you people are upset over people hating on reptiles / inverts. A lot of people I know are freaked out by the things I own. But they were raised that way, and are honestly very ignorant. Getting externally pissed off at them never helps to get them to turn around. I've learned being calm and patient with people wins them over in time. The media and general public don't like these things, mostly due to a major lack of knowledge and exposure to and of them.

Don't get me wrong, this make me REALLY REALLY MAD!!!!! But, just remember if you fight ignorance with anger, more often then not it ends up as a fluster cluck. I have won a lot of people over by just taking some ignorant blows and not retaliate, but use cool facts calmness to break down prejudice.

Ciphor · Feb 24, 2012

This article does not surprise me in the least. The UK has been trying to point fingers at the not so dangerous Steatoda grossa for awhile now.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...invasion-breeding-like-crazy-damp-summer.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1117342/The-deadly-spider-bite-grandmother-coma.html

There was that story not that long ago about deadly false widows infesting buckingham palace too. Can't find it but it was posted on here.

They spread spider ignorance and fear as a distraction. People get bite by something, never see it, and because of the news always talking about it they go right to it.

I'd bet dollars to dimes this latest news story is just like the rest, unconfirmed, pure bull with spin to sell it.

---------- Post added 02-24-2012 at 03:29 PM ----------

Ryan the Roach Guy said:
False widows aren't related to true widows.
I hate articles like these; people have an misinterpreted animal phobia so news articles overreact about a simple incident. This causes havoc for both spider and snake keepers. It's not like dogs, because people are mauled almost everyday by domestic dogs. One python may have killed somebody within a 5 year range. Oh, but let's care about the phobia animals. That just gives a bad name to the people who have them as pets.

Of course they are related, they are both in the family Theridiidae. If your family is not a relative, what is? How related they are has nothing to do with the virulence of their venom however. They are a completely different genus/species.

longwing · Feb 24, 2012

Wow. I'm ashamed to be British. We really are wimps. Oh no! A huge spider *bigger than a five penny piece*!! We must save our children from it!
Get a grip, Brits.

The Snark · Feb 24, 2012

I'd like to read a follow up piece to that incident. You know, "Spider in ______ condition after biting a human 10 times... " You know, prognosis, maybe an interview: "What were you thinking, biting the neck of a human? Have you ever heard of the laundry malady ring around the collar? What are your future plans? Etc. etc."

lizardminion · Feb 24, 2012

I simply hate the negative propaganda our exotic invertebrates and herptiles receive.
We need to do something. Something noticeable and good.
Like protest but without protesting.

Dr Acula · Feb 24, 2012

I love how he says he thought it was a "bee sting" in the beginning but then later on explains it to be worst than a wasp and very painful".

Bazzgazm · Feb 25, 2012

I'm not trying to be mean, but... i think the spider did some permanent damage to his face..

Man Collapses After Being Bitten Ten Times by a False Widow

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