A musician from Atlanta, USA has revealed how he almost lost his life after he suffered a brown recluse spider bite last month.
Singer-songwriter Gabe Lustman said he doesn’t know where or exactly when he got bit by the poisonous spider, which he initially thought was a “mosquito bite or something.”
“I start scratching it and scratching it and then it starts turning colors,” the 30-year-old recalled in a phone interview with NY Post.
“I thought I bumped my leg because it kind of looked like a bulls-eye, it looked like a bruise.”
The artist first noticed the bite around Aug. 18 and from there it got worse. He performed at a gala the next day, but felt so sick he went straight from the show to the hospital.
Doctors quickly determined his leg was infected, but a clear diagnosis came the following day when an infectious disease specialist checked him out, he said.
Lustman was in the hospital for five days where he had multiple blood tests and was given heavy doses of antibiotics and other medications.
Before he was released, doctors told him that if he had come to the hospital later than he did, he would have been amputated or lost his life.
“They said if I came in a couple days later it would have spread even more,” he said. “I mean, I waited until I could not walk anymore, I was hobbling. I couldn’t put any pressure on my leg.”
“I was really scared, man. I’m very blessed and grateful I made it out with my leg.” Lustman added.