A Brit needed emergency surgery after his flesh started rotting – following a tiny spider bite.
Nigel Hunt was nipped on his stomach – doctors believe by a false widow or brown recluse spider – while lying in bed at home, just hours before flying to Egypt for a holiday.
Then, his nightmare began.
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The 59-year-old felt fine at first but became violently sick a couple of days later.
His wife, Sandra, 59, says he started to feel worse as the bite grew bigger.
Speaking from Egypt, where he is still having treatment at hospital after contracting a flesh-eating disease, the window fitter describes the horror story.
“On arriving at the airport and travelling through check-in we made our way to departures,” Nigel from St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, told What’s the Jam.
“At this point, everything seemed to deteriorate quite quickly from being sick in the departure lounge to having my head in a sick bag for most of the journey.
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“On arrival at Sharm El Sheikh, we collected our belongings and made our way to the pharmacy for some antibiotics or something to help with the sickness.
“They prescribed a couple of things and the following day we went to hospital to be prescribed the same medication.
“The next two days started to get worse so we went to a different hospital in Hadaba where straight away I had blood tests and ultrasound scans.
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“Then we waited a couple of hours for the doctor to check the results.
“He called us in saying it was a good job we had come in because the bite was from either a false widow or a brown recluse spider.”
That evening, Nigel went for operation to have what he thought was abscesses treated.
But it turned out he was suffering from necrotising fasciitis – a flesh-eating bug.
According to the NHS website, necrotising fasciitis is a rare and life-threatening infection that can happen if a wound gets infected.
It needs to be treated in hospital straight away.
Nigel said: “If I hadn’t been to the hospital for a second examination within six to 10 days, I would be dead.
“They haven’t given me an all-clear date yet as the wound is still open and I have to have it packed every couple of days.
“I just have to make sure it hasn’t started spreading again.
“It could be a couple of weeks before I could fly back home.
“Luckily we have an apartment out here to stay.
“To go from healthy to poorly in such a short time, then to be told you could die, was frightening.
“I can’t go diving or snorkelling, I can’t go to the beach in case sand gets in the wound, so I’m sat watching TV most of the time although I’m just glad I’m still here.”
Sandra added: “Someone else on the Isles of Scilly has said this has happened to them and they nearly lost their knee.
“The doctors in Egypt are convinced it was a spider bite.
“Nigel is still going to the hospital to have the gaping wound cleaned and repacked without any anaesthetic.
“It’s awful to witness.
“They also have to keep checking to make sure no more necrosis has developed.”
Nigel has issued a warning to fellow Scillonians.
He added: “I thought it only right to tell everyone on the Isles of Scilly to be careful and check for spiders.
“I don’t know what the outcome will be from this, but I hope it stops anyone else from going through the pain and agony this has caused.”
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