I almost lost a leg after ‘flesh-eating’ spider bit me on plane

A HOLIDAYMAKER almost lost his leg after he was bitten by a flesh-eating spider on a plane.
Jonathon Hogg, 40, said the wound resembled “something from a horror film” and doctors told him he could have died.

The barrister was nipped by a poisonous brown recluse spider, a native of the USA, on a flight from Qatar to South Africa. Within hours his leg had ballooned and turned black.

Surgeons had to cut away a large chunk of flesh Slater and Gordon/PA Wire

Mr Hogg, from Camden, North London, said: “The pain was like nothing I’ve been through in my life.
“By the time I got to hospital my leg was bursting open, there was pus, it was black.
“It was a right mess. They told me if I had been any later I would have lost my leg or even died. It was terrifying.”

Surgeons removed a large amount of venom-infected flesh and what was left “resembled something from a horror film”.

Brown recluse spiders are native to the USA Alamy

Mr Hogg had three operations and a skin graft during a month in hospital in South Africa and three months on is still receiving treatment.

The keen footballer and kickboxer fears he may never play sport again - and is terrified of flying.
Mr Hogg was bitten while travelling to South Africa to dive with sharks after working at an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo.

During the Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Cape Town he felt a pain in his leg before spotting a spider scurrying across the cabin floor.

Mr Hogg's leg was 'bursting open' when he reached hospital Slater and Gordon/PA Wire

He said: “I was struggling to get comfortable during the journey and crossed my legs to get into a better position when I felt a small, sharp pain radiating in my left leg.

“I turned on the light and clearly saw a spider running across the floor before hearing two stewardesses screaming ‘spider’.”

Brown recluse spiders, which are less than an inch long and live in America’s South and Mid-West, are rarely aggressive but bite if tangled in clothes.
Their venom contains a toxin that destroys red blood cells and can cause necrosis — death of body tissue.

He said the wound resembled 'something from a horror film' Slater and Gordon/PA Wire

He said: “I knew something was wrong but I had no idea how bad it was until I spoke with the surgeon. When he told me how close I had come to losing my leg I was stunned.

“It really hit home when they removed the bandages and I saw what was left of my leg. They had been forced to cut away so much, I was devastated.

“However when I realised the extent of my injuries I realised I was just lucky to still have my leg.”
Mr Hogg has since been told he may need another operation after learning that the skin graft has not taken.
He has now launched legal action against the airline, which he says has refused to accept responsibility.

Mr Hogg is suing Qatar Airlines AP Photo/Michael Probst

He said: “No one should have to go through what I have and if the airline has made a mistake it should take responsibility.”

His solicitor Richard Duxbury, from law firm Slater and Gordon, said: “Mr Hogg has suffered a harrowing experience and the situation could have been far worse.

“Airlines have a responsibility to protect passengers from dangerous potential pests by properly fumigating all planes.”