Boy walks from hospital one day after deadly funnel-web spider bite
A 10-year-old boy has been given the most antivenene in Australian history, after he was bitten by a deadly funnel-web spider and needed it to survive.
Matthew Mitchell was helping his dad clean their home on Monday night when he was bitten by the spider on the finger.
“It sort of clawed onto me and all the legs and everything crawled around my finger and I couldn’t get it off,” Matthew told News Corp.
The spider had been hiding in a shoe that the 10-year-old picked up.
Eventually Matthew managed to flick the funnel-web off with his other hand.
“It landed a few feet away from me so I knew exactly what it was,” Dave Mitchell, Matthew’s father told News Corp.
Following the potentially fatal bite the Year 6 student was rushed to Gosford Hospital where his symptoms worsened.
Matthew suffered through numerous seizures before doctors eventually administered 12 vials of life-saving antivenene.
The offending spider has since been transported to the Australian Reptile Park.
Tim Faulkner, General Manager of the Australian Reptile Park, said the boy is “as lucky as they get” following the bite.
"I've never heard of it, it's incredible," he told AAP on Friday.
"And to walk out of hospital a day later with no effects is a testament to the antivenom."
February and March is the peak-breeding season for the funnel-web.
The male spiders are five times more venomous than females.
The funnel-web will now become part of the reptile park’s milking program.
The family decided to share Matthew’s near-death experience in a bid to spread awareness about the risks of being bitten.
Faulkner urged people to catch and donate funnel web spiders, as long as they’re not putting themselves in danger.
He explained: “Our milking technique extracts more venom than before and last season, our team of five milkers completed 1,500 milkings. But our aim this season is 3,000 milkings, so it’s essential that we build up our stock of funnel webs.”
He also recommends that residents in areas that have a high number of funnel webs have a spider safety kit ready.
Since the invention of antivenom in 1982 and with the implementation of The Australian Reptile Parks venom program, no one has died from a funnel web bite.
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