Dad is left scarred for life after bite from deadly spider hidden in bananas put him in a coma for a week
A DAD was left fighting for life after being bitten by a deadly spider hiding in a bunch of bananas.
Paul Jory, 59, said the poison from the three-inch arachnid — thought to be a false widow — spread a flesh-eating infection up his right arm.
Medics had to put him in an induced coma for a week and cut off chunks of flesh to extract the venom.
Paul endured eight operations, reconstructive surgery and now has a giant scar running round his bicep.
He said: “It wasn’t a nice spider — it had danger tattooed on its forehead.
“When it bit me, it was really painful like a shock all over my body.
“My arm started swelling up. It was like a golf ball.
“I got a taxi to A&E and when the receptionist saw how bad I was she got a doctor. That’s the last thing I remember. They put me in a coma.”
Marketing boss Paul was bitten in his garage after buying the bananas at his local shop in St Albans, Herts, in May.
He spent five weeks in Watford General Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital in London.
Specialists were able to save his arm but he has to learn how to use it again as he was left with just 40 per cent movement.
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Paul added: “I was not far from death. If the poison got into my armpit and into the glands it would have spread.
“I just want to put it behind me. I don’t like spiders now or bananas, I’m never having another one in my life.”
False widows have a bulbous black body which has a skull-like pattern.
If bitten, NHS advice is to pack the wound with ice and seek immediate attention.
