Boy, 10, bitten by world's deadliest spider in Australia, makes 'incredible' recovery after 12 vials of antivenom

A 10-year-old boy in Australia was bitten by the world’s deadliest spider - a funnel-web – but made an “incredible” recovery after being given the largest dose of antivenom in the nation’s history.

Matthew Mitchell started sweating and began to froth at the mouth after he was bitten on his hand by the male spider  while putting away his shoe.

He was rushed to hospital and recovered after receiving twelve vials of antivenom, believed to be more than any other bite victim in history.     

“I’ve never heard of it - it’s incredible,” said Tim Faulkner, a wildlife expert. “And to walk out of hospital a day later with no effects is a testament to the antivenom.”

The bite occurred while Mitchell was cleaning a shed with his father at their house north of Sydney.

Matthew Mitchell

Describing the bite, Mitchell told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph: “It [the spider] sort of clawed onto me and all the legs and everything crawled around my finger and I couldn’t get it off.”

Darren Mitchell, the boy’s father, said: ‘He went from pain in his finger until getting the tingling up his arm ... but he stayed conscious the whole time.”

Mr Mitchell wrapped his son’s shirt around his arm as  a tourniquet and drove him to find medical help.   

Typically, funnel-web bites require three to five vials of antivenom.

"It would have been a fatal bite [without antivenom] there's little to no doubt of that," Mr Faulkner said. "A small child is more vulnerable but that bite would have killed an adult."

The spider was captured and taken to the Australian Reptile Park, a wildlife park which will milk its venom for use in future rescues.  

The park has been urging residents in Australia not to kill funnel-webs but instead to capture them and hand them in to ensure that antivemom supplies are adequate.

The funnel-web is often considered the most deadly in the world because of its fast-acting venom, which  can kill within as little as 15 minutes.

According to the Australian Museum, no confirmed deaths have occurred from a funnel-web bite since an antivenom was introduced in 1981.

Bites are fairly common, particularly when the weather is warm and humid.

Last month, a woman in Bundanoon, south-west of Sydney, woke at 3am to find a funnel-web crawling across her leg.

The spider bit her and she was treated in hospital with four vials of antivenom.

Last year, a 22-year-old died in Australia from a suspected bite by a redback spider.  It was believed to be the nation’s first death from a spider since a fatal funnel-web attack in 1979.