{"id":737947,"date":"2026-08-14T16:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/737947\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T16:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:56:14","slug":"man-almost-died-and-was-left-in-four-day-coma-after-bite-by-uk-spider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/737947\/","title":{"rendered":"Man almost died and was left in four-day coma after bite by UK spider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doctors said they may have to amputate his armNeil Shaw<\/a> Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)<\/p>\n

06:58, 14 Aug 2026Updated 11:30, 14 Aug 2026<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Murphy decided to take the spider outside<\/p>\n

A man was left in a coma for four days after a spider crawled across his bed and bit him in the UK. Peter Murphy spotted a \u201cstrange\u201d spider crawling across his bed, carefully picked up the arachnid and placed it outside.<\/p>\n

But the next day, he felt discomfort across his right wrist, with swelling and redness. Days later, he was unable to speak properly. After rushing to hospital, he was placed in a coma, and the last thing he heard was doctors advising his wife, Toni, 62, that if the infection continued to travel up his arm, they would need to amputate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, my life was flashing before my eyes,\u201d said the health and safety manager from Mansfield. \u201cI turned to Toni, managed a smile, and said: \u2018I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to make it through this. This could be goodbye.’<\/p>\n

It’s not what you eat but when you eat, keep an eye on your belly not BMI, using the internet makes you grumpy, and cutting your run short is dangerous = all this and more in our science newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The start of the swelling<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shock of it all was overwhelming. Various doctors were rushing to my bedside and explaining to me what they thought was happening. They needed to contain it and get it under control very quickly, or it would rapidly move to other parts of my body.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctors seemed very worried and wanted to operate as soon as possible. I could sense it was life-threatening but felt helpless. I was asked when being operated on if I wished to be resuscitated. I agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter, 61, describes the spider as having a \u201csee-through skeletal body with red eyes\u201d. After coming around from the four-day coma, and following four operations, Peter learned he had contracted necrotising fasciitis; a flesh-eating bug.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter in hospital after the bite<\/p>\n

He also suffered from severe cellulitis and sepsis during the ordeal in October 2022. Before he could focus on recovery, though, life had another surprise in store. He said: \u201cI was sitting in my hospital bed reflecting on my brother passing away the week before I was fighting for my life in hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen talking to one of the nurses, I remembered my sister had just been admitted, too. After checking, she found out she was in the ward right above me. When I got to her room, I found all the family around her hospital bed, as she was not in a good way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose, in my mind, I said my goodbyes, and that was the last time I saw her, as she passed away shortly afterwards. Maybe it was fate that this weird-looking spider was sent to me and made me so poorly. It brought me and my sister together for the final time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter almost lost his arm<\/p>\n

While the next few weeks were challenging, Peter managed to regain his strength. He went through the process of skin grafting and physiotherapy to help the movement in his hand and fingers.<\/p>\n

And, while nearing the end of his recovery, he and his wife decided it was time to prioritise their future. Before, he was tipping the scales at 18st 7lbs, while Toni weighed 13st 7lbs.<\/p>\n

Then, after the ordeal, he had put on a further two stones. It left him unable to walk far, out of breath easily and struggling with sleeping, snoring, as well as chest pains.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter thought he was going to die<\/p>\n

Peter also struggled to play games with his grandchildren. After saying goodbye to his brother and sister \u2013 and almost himself \u2013 within just one week, he knew something needed to change. And so, he and Toni switched up their unhealthy eating habits of full English breakfasts, takeaway kebabs, crisp sandwiches and cakes.<\/p>\n

Instead, they opted for poached eggs, tuna salad and low-calorie bars. At the start of 2025, they also joined Slimming World. Between them, after just one year, they had lost an impressive 10st 2lb between them \u2013 Toni losing 3st 7lbs and Peter dropping 6st 9lbs respectively.<\/p>\n

Now, the pair are embracing life and have recently taken up badminton three times a week. Peter added: \u201cI was very sceptical at first, as I have lost weight many times during my life and always put it back on \u2013 and more.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter and Toni<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Toni was adamant that this was an opportunity we couldn\u2019t let pass us by. Today, all my symptoms have disappeared, and I\u2019ve fully recovered. We were in our sixties, growing old together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now, it feels like we\u2019re staying young together. Joining Slimming World was the best thing we ever did. It was making those lifestyle changes and being involved with other members that helped us turn our lives around.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy advice is don\u2019t focus on losing weight \u2013 that will come \u2013 but it does matter what you eat today and tomorrow. It\u2019s not too late to make that change. Reflecting back on what happened puts me through every emotion [possible].<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter and Toni have changed their lives<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom thinking that I might not see my family again, or my little grandchildren grow up, to the pain of rehabilitation. Having got there in the end, I can laugh about it now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I\u2019m one of the lucky ones; even though it didn\u2019t seem like that at the time. Life is now pleasurable and effortless. We only gave up one thing \u2013 and that was the weight we were carrying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said goodbye to our worries about dying and said hello to living.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter and Toni are also supporting Slimming World\u2019s charity, SMILES, which raises funds for various causes, including Cancer Research UK, the Irish Cancer Society and Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK. So far, they\u2019ve raised \u00a3500 for the charity through sponsored events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doctors said they may have to amputate his armNeil Shaw Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle) 06:58, 14 Aug…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[31470,59,102,2196,1906,39163,28557,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-737947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cancer-research-uk","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-hospitals","tag-mental-health","tag-slimming-world","tag-spiders","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}