What started as an ordinary day of home renovations turned into a frightening medical ordeal for a 73-year-old British man who says a suspected spider bite caused his leg to swell to an astonishing size, sending him to the hospital and leaving him struggling to walk more than a month later.
Glenn Priestley, from Blackpool, England, was working on his mother’s home in September when he felt a sharp sensation on his left leg. At first, he thought little of it. But within hours, something was terribly wrong.
By the evening of September 16, his leg had become severely swollen, hot to the touch and an alarming shade of red. During an October 22 appearance on Good Morning Britain, Priestley described the swelling as reaching the “size of a large watermelon.”
The pain only intensified over the following days, eventually becoming so severe that he could barely lower his foot to the ground.
Priestley believes the trouble began when he picked up a blanket that had been lying on the floor during the renovations. Shortly afterward, he noticed an unfamiliar dark brown spider crawling along a nearby wall.
He suspects the creature had been hiding in the blanket and bit him when it brushed against his leg.
Although the spider was never definitively identified, Priestley believes it may have been a noble false widow, a venomous species related to the notorious black widow.
As his condition deteriorated, Priestley sought medical attention. Doctors ordered blood tests, and he was subsequently admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for treatment.
What had initially seemed like a minor bite had developed into a serious medical problem. His leg became increasingly inflamed, with swelling extending toward his foot and his skin showing signs of infection.
The ordeal continued even after he was discharged from the hospital on October 6.
More than a month after the suspected bite, Priestley was still receiving visits from a community nurse, keeping his leg wrapped in bandages and relying on a walking frame because of the intense pain in his foot.
He rated the pain an eight out of ten and described the entire experience as deeply unsettling.
The incident has also disrupted his everyday life. An amateur actor, Priestley had been preparing to appear in a local holiday theater production in November. He even joked that he might have to perform with a noticeable limp if his recovery continued slowly.
Despite the frightening circumstances, experts say encounters like Priestley’s are exceptionally uncommon.
The noble false widow, scientifically known as Steatoda nobilis, is among Britain’s more medically significant spiders, but it is not considered aggressive toward humans. Most confirmed bites cause relatively mild symptoms comparable to a bee or wasp sting.
According to London’s Natural History Museum, serious complications attributed to false widow bites are often associated with secondary infections rather than the spider’s venom alone. Experts also caution that many suspected spider bites are never conclusively linked to a particular species.
Entomologist Dee Patel, speaking on Good Morning Britain, emphasized that false widow bites are extremely rare and that no deaths from the spiders have been recorded in the United Kingdom.
The case nevertheless highlights how quickly a seemingly minor skin injury can become a serious health concern. Medical guidance recommends seeking prompt attention when swelling, redness or pain rapidly worsens, particularly if the affected skin becomes unusually hot or shows signs of infection.
For Priestley, the experience has left a lasting impression. He is now urging others not to dismiss unusual symptoms following a suspected bite.
His warning is simple: If the pain becomes severe or the swelling continues to spread, get it checked before the situation gets worse.
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