Woman rushed to ER with brown recluse spider bites ...

[left-of-center2012]

Woman rushed to ER with brown recluse spider bites, then finds dozens more infesting her apartment

Angela Wright of Brentwood, Tennessee woke up with arm pain and a few bumps on her chest and arm ... Wright eventually visited the doctor's office and was given medication for the bumps, but it didn't help. In fact, she started feeling worse. She was taken to the emergency room a few days later, after she described feeling like she was hallucinating. Brown recluse spider venom includes a neurotoxic component, that is known to cause chills, fever or, in some rare cases, death.

"The bite formed two blood clots that went to my lungs. I was seconds from a stroke," Wright told CBS News. Wright notified the management company in charge of the "Views of Brentwood" complex, where she lives, that her home was crawling with spiders, and she was bitten by them. "I would find spiders everywhere when spring came. I emailed, called, and they [apartment management] only told me they put me on the monthly spray list," Wright said. Someone sprayed the apartment, but the spiders didn't go away.

Now, she is trying to move out of the infested apartment, but she said the management company won't break her lease. "They said the only way I could move is if I got someone to buy me out, which I won't, that's awful," Wright told CBS News. "They actually told me they didn't believe me." Wright said the only option management is offering to her is to provide a 60-day notice, then vacate the apartment, which would require her to pay $2,200.

The ordeal has cost Wright more than living expenses, medical costs are piling up. "They [apartment management] refused to help me pay medical bills," Wright said. She estimates she owes, "at least $10,000 that I know of."

Full story:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/angela-wright-brentwood-tennessee-brown-recluse-spider-bites-dozens-more-infesting-her-apartment/

[lark]

1. She needs to sue them right away.

A good attorney letter may be all that's needed? Places like this usually back down quickly when challenged by an attorney, they count on people's ignorance.

[Pachamama]

2. I rolled over in Bed some years ago onto a Brown Recluse Spider and it bit me....in addition to pain

....the wound became a big open wound and the skin in the area was being "eaten away". I too had to go to the ER and they treated the wound and focused on making sure that the area was not infected. It took months to heal and I have a round scar in the area where I was bitten.

Horrible. I can't even imagine there being multiple and what this woman endured.

[Kotya]

9. I've read of people who have had to have limbs amputated from recluse bites.

Rare cases, to be sure, but sometimes the necrosis can't be treated and it just spreads and spreads.

[Blue_true]

11. I was stung in the chest by one, near my heart.

Took almost a year to become symptom free. I remember that paralysis around the wound that lasted for months, and the spells of chills. And I am an athletic guy, I can't imagine what would have happened to a baby.

[MineralMan]

3. Brown Recluse bites are awful.

They are also hard to eradicate. Most of the spiders show in that trap are harmless harvestman spiders, often called daddy longlegs. They're not the problem at all. Brown recluse spiders, as the name implies, hide out under furniture and other things in the home, which makes them hard to kill just by the typical spraying that is done.

The worst thing is that there are brown recluse spiders in that area almost everywhere. Moving to a new apartment probably won't get her out of danger. A brand new apartment with all new furniture and other items would be safe enough, at least until the spiders got into it.

I used to live in California, where black widow spiders were the danger. I could find you a black widow spider in almost any house or apartment there in just a few minutes. We even moved one to Minnesota, where I found it living inside a recliner we moved with us. I killed it. There are no black widow or brown recluse spiders in the Twin Cities area, except some that are moved here from other places. They can't survive the winters here.

[Blue_true]

12. Would setting off pesticide bombs that flood the apartment be the best way to kill them?

Bombs can be placed under beds and furniture to insure good coverage in those places. I have found that cleaning railings and around and under furniture and wiping down walls and ceilings is the best way to keep spiders away.

I was bitten by a brown recluse once and don't want that to happen again.

[MineralMan]

19. I don't know. I would not use such things in my home.

I coexist with spiders in my house. We don't have any awful ones here in Minnesota, so I just ignore them. I don't use insecticides. They're all nasty neurotoxins. No thanks.

[Blue_true]

20. You are right about insecticides, but they beat a brown recluse bite. I had one before, nasty. nt

[womanofthehills]

30. Good idea to never use insecticides in your house

It's a good way to give yourself chemical sensitivities for life. Suddenly, you will be having back aches, stomach pains and probably asthma.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. Yeah, I let them spray my condo once.

Stuff like that usually doesn’t bother me but it gave me a major headache.

I would rather have a few spiders and house centipedes. Especially since we have a dog I don’t want that crap around us.

A couple women in the building are freaked out about the house centipedes and want to constantly spray. “It’s non-toxic” they say. Yeah that’s what they said about Agent Orange.


House centipedes apparently like to live in the jetted tub motor pipes. Nothing like climbing in to a freshly cleaned tub with a cocktail and getting a tub full of chewed up house centipedes. Good times...

[MineralMan]

24. There's often a centipede in my office area

in the basement. It scurries across the desk near my keyboard. No harm to me. I enjoy watching it going about its business.

[Mosby]

25. I read that you can bring a praying mantis inside

And they will kill and eat everything over time. Apparently they can be friendly, almost like a pet.

I tried it a long time ago and it worked, but the mantis was young and wasn't getting enough food so I took it outside.

[oasis]

4. That is definitely a scary looking bite. nt

[Blue_true]

13. I got one in the chest, a couple inches from my heart.

Took almost a year to fully recover. The chills at night were the worst, as was the paralysis around the bite. Trully nasty stuff, if you never deal with it, count yourself as lucky.

[oasis]

21. I've read about your ordeal and the other's on this thread.

The situation has to be most frightful. A desperately long recovery time. Glad you finally shook the symptoms and have the ability to pass on your story. Hopefully, like a lightning strike, you won't get hit again.

[Blue_true]

27. Yeah, I hope that I don't get bitten again. That was the scariest thing ever for me. nt

[TheBlackAdder]

5. I was speaking to a hardware store manager, they're being shipped around country in mulch bags.

.

He said to check where the mulch is sourced from because some people have been bitten mulching their flower beds.

.

[virgogal]

8. So where are the bad mulch sources---I haven't a clue?

[Blue_true]

14. When I did it, I never touched the mulch, always used garden tools, that worked well.

I generally think that it is a bad idea to touch mulch, lots of organisms in that stuff.

[TheBlackAdder]

16. He didn't say. I mentioned I got Canadian Cedar, since using non-cedar is a termite magnet.

.

Many of the cedar offerings are blends, which only detracts some insects, yet could attract termites.

I got mine at Agway for 3/$15 for 3 cubic yard bags. But, this was at another regional hardware store.


Perhaps he wasn't sure and didn't want to say anything, or perhaps they were selling suspect brands.

Who knows?


Here's a map of where they originate:



.

[LiberalArkie]

28. You know I use the bed bug, flea, tick bombs here in Arkansas.

At least twice a year.. I have to, I live out in the Ouachita National Forest.

[TheBlackAdder]

31. Diatomaceous Earth is great for controlling insects in the house, and it's really cheap.

.

It is food grade and edible, but it is 1 micron wire-framed skeletons of minute water life, giving the texture of flour.

How it works is you sprinkle it around, in the basement, behind electrical outlet cover plates and in cracks.

Soft-bodied insects it cuts their skin causing them to dehydrate in 2 days. Hard-bodied insects, it causes joint and mandible failure in a couple of days.

It's very passive, you just don't want to breathe too much of it in dust form.

There's a net website, under that same name. They have sales all the time and I thing coupons too. I bought all my family members 20 pound boxes, and I've have mine for 3 years now and it's only half full. I put a band around tree trunks, when I see carpenter ants, and that prevents them from going back to the ground. Slowly, they will cross the band, and in a while, they're almost all gone.

The only drawback is that it cakes when it gets wet, reducing it's effectiveness. So it's best to use in a dry area or spot treatments.

Oh, for the exterior, I put down a 30-40 foot perimeter of insecticide granules at least twice a year.

.

[virgogal]

29. Thanks------that map will be very helpful.

[lpbk2713]

6. Apparently management would rather pay a large amount in damages.

She could file a class action with the other tenants who have infestations.
If they found good representation not only would they break the tenants'
lease but they could get judgment for pain and suffering and mental anguish.

[dalton99a]

7. Attorney said she has to prove the apartment is uninhabitable

http://www.wsmv.com/story/38570186/woman-finds-nearly-50-brown-recluse-spiders-in-her-bedroom

[panader0]

10. The spiders shown are not brown recluse.

The brown recluse looks much like a black widow, with a slightly different marking on the belly.
The brown recluse can cause necrosis---and leave permanent holes where the flesh was "eaten".
They are all over around here, as common as the black widow. They make scorpion stings,
(of which I have had a few) seem like nothing.
I'll see if I can find a good image........


The brown recluse has the violin mark, the black widow has an hourglass mark.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

26. The Violin Mark is usually much darker, and very distinguishable.

Of course they can be any size, but I have seen them in the wild by streams w leg spread, being the size of the biggest Wolf spider you've ever seen. They are fast. They resemble a Wolf spider but much tanner/browner. Legs spread, the biggest one I've seen was the circumference of a Red Bull can. (were you to put it on paper, and draw a circle around it.)
If you get bit in the wild, you have to act very fast. The first signs of the big red broken splotch and brother, you better get in touch w someone quickly.
Bc of the Necrosis from the bite, often "mellon ball scoop' type devices are used to dig out the poisoned flesh. Often having to be de-brided(sp) several times until it heals. Very VERY nasty little creature. the testimonials above are descriptive of what these spiders can do.
The best thing is to tear apart your bed and flip the furniture that you can, to sweep carefully around everything until they're gone. If you haven't turned your house inside-out by now this summer, today is a good day. (To everyone...that means YOU. You know who you are.) A fumigation by a professional who knows they are hunting spiders is suggested. Basement right on up. It's been my experience they run away, and won't come at you unless you get to close and it feels(?) trapped, or you squeeze it somehow w a body part. In the wilds, you have to be soooo careful. Especially cabin'ing. If I see one...they're Dead Fred with a log/club, rock boot. Just won't suffer these arachnids.
Read up on Hogweed as well. Similar nasty oils. I grew up around Hogweed my entire life and never had a reason to touch them. We did ride atv's through those areas though. Easy to identify, and everyone who goes outside should be aware of some basics.

[MicaelS]

15. In Grapevine, Texas, a woman was bitten twice

By a copperhead snake, twice. In her own driveway.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Poisonous-Snake-Surprises-Woman-In-Her-Driveway-487448701.html%3famp=y

I don't like spiders and snakes. Brrrrrr.

[backscatter712]

17. Yikes! There's some high-octane nightmare fuel for you.

[mokawanis]

18. My daughter's b/f was bitten by a brown recluse

and ended up having surgery (bitten on his arm). After the insurance paid most of the bill he still had to pay $2,000.

[smirkymonkey]

22. That poor woman! I hope she sues!

That would just freak me out. I don't know if I would ever want to go back to my home again or sleep in my own bed. I hate insects, especially spiders.

[Hortensis]

32. Strange story, not just swallowing. Want to hear the rest.

"Apartment management" of this respectable-looking multi-building rental property almost certainly carries commercial property and casualty insurance. The insurance company will have investigated, including having the building inspected, and has denied liability. If this hasn't happened already, this news coverage guarantees it will be. Insurance companies, which really don't like their insureds maintaining and hiding liability exposures from them, have the right to inspect, to require correction of any exposures found and to cancel coverage if not satisfied.

Perhaps I missed where the woman in this story involved the municipality's health department?

We've lived in the deep south since 2000 now. I've seen brown recluse spiders outside now and then, and the loose stone walls I built in the garden quickly became a favored environment for black widows. Fortunately, since both like to hide in dark places and come out to hunt, neither have tried to live in the house.

Our wannabe resident is a dainty long-legged spider which obviously much prefers the wide-open, opportunistic comfort of our interior corners where walls and ceiling meet. I have nothing against them personally, and appreciate their assistance with controlling other insects that find their way in, but I broom-sweep or vacuum them away since I do have a problem with the byproducts they drop.

[Cha]

33. OMG.. that sounds like one

of the Worst Nightmares! That's Horrible.. that poor thing.

I wish her the very best for recourse from these slum lords.

[Vinca]

34. Calling Mr. Avenatti. Calling Mr. Avenatti.

By the time he got done with the apartment building owners they wouldn't be the owners.