Lauren Boddy needed surgery twice after being bitten by a woodlouse spider
A mother was put in hospital needing two operations after being a spider bit her as she sat on the toilet – leaving her family petrified of the arachnids.
The spider caused chaos in Lauren Boddy’s home in Reading, Berkshire, also biting her son and ex-boyfriend, who both required medical assistance.
She noticed a red spot on her leg while she was in her bathroom, but the following day it had swollen and the 27-year-old was in agony.
Doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital sent her home with antibiotics, but her conditioned worsened and two days later she was back in, this time on a drip and needing surgery.
Her ex-boyfriend Luke, 25, looked after her four children – Nathaniel, six, twins Morgan and Rowan, five, and Luca, two – while she was in hospital.
But he also had to be treated in hospital for a spider bite to his testicles, while Morgan was taken to a local GP with a lump on his hand.
She noticed a red spot on her leg while she was in her bathroom, but the following day it had swollen and the 27-year-old was in agony
Doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital sent Miss Boddy home with antibiotics, but her conditioned worsened and two days later she was back in, this time on a drip and needing surgery (right)
She told the Sun Online that the arachnid caused her so many problems that she now kills any spiders as soon as she sees them.
WOODLOUSE SPIDERS
They get their name because woodlice is their primary form of prey.
Female woodlice spiders can grow up to 30mm in length, with males around half this size.
They were not previously thought to be harmful to humans, but recent cases have changed experts’ opinions on this.
Most cases are not as extreme as Miss Boddy’s, though.
However, if you are bitten you should seek advice from your GP.
It horrifies me. I’m worried they’ll come back,’ she said.
‘You wouldn’t think it would happen over here. The hospital kept asking me if I’d been to a foreign country.
‘Mums need to be very, very vigilant. People are too laid back.’
After returning home to deep clean her house, Miss Boddy thought she had successfully exterminated the arachnid, but she had to go in for further surgery after being bitten on her back days after returning home.
During the second procedure, surgeons had to remove part of one of her tattoos to work on the 7cm-deep wound.
But she eventually came face-to-face with her eight-legged nemesis while she was playing with her children.
She trapped the spider under a glass but, fearing her children would accidentally knock it over and free their attacker, she took it out with a slipper.
Miss Boddy added: ‘Cruel? I think not. I had a huge plaster on my back, a scar on my thigh.
‘I couldn’t bear to think what’d happen if that thing bit me or one of my kids again.’
She eventually trapped the spider under a glass but, fearing her children (pictured together, right) would accidentally knock it over and free the spider, she took it out with a slipper