Mom, 44, attacked by pack of venomous spiders while cleaning as she’s left in eye patch with disturbing injuries
A MOTHER was left in excruciating pain after she was attacked by a pack of poisonous spiders while cleaning outside her home.
Jessica Rouge was tidying up a shed on her property on July 1 when she was ambushed by the venomous arachnids.
Rouge, 44, was sweeping inside the shed in Bogart, Georgia, roughly 60 miles east of Atlanta, when she felt something on her face, she told local TV station WANF.
“I immediately felt something on my face next to my eye,” she said.
“I felt I got bit.”
The mother-of-three said she suffered bites in multiple places on her body as she got caught in a web in the shed.
“There were spiders on me,” she said.
“Where I was, it was a really messy web, and I was trying to clean that up.”
Just 24 hours after she was bit, Rouge found herself in the hospital.
Rouge said she had been bitten by spiders before, but this time it was different because of the type of spider it was – a brown recluse.
The bites caused her face, arms, and throat to swell up to the point where she could barely open her eyes.
She felt like her skin was on fire and was suffering numbness and loss of mobility in her hand and foot, according to a GoFundMe page set up for her.
“I had no idea what it was, there’s no way it could have done that to me,” Rouge said.
Brown recluse spiders are one of three venomous spiders found in the United States.
They are most commonly found in southern and central states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri
The spiders are only 1 to 1.5 inches long and have three pairs of eyes.
They are known for the dark brown, violin-shaped mark found on their upper body and have much lighter-colored legs.
Their bite is known for containing venom that can cause a human to get quite sick or even die.
Medical experts do not recommend treating a brown recluse spider bite at home.
Instead, they urge anyone suffering from a bite to call 911 or a local poison control center.
Typical symptoms of a brown recluse bite may include:
- Chills
- Itching
- Discomfort
- Fever
- Nausea
- Discoloring in a circle around the bite, in a red or purple color
- Sweating
- Large sore around the bite
Rare symptoms may include:
- Blood in urine
- Yellowing of skin or the whites of eyes
- Kidney failure
- Seizures
- Coma
To protect yourself from a potential bite, experts with Mount Sinai recommend wearing protective clothing when traveling through areas where the spiders live, such as dark and sheltered areas like a porch or woodpile.
Experts also strongly urge against putting hands or feet directly into a spider nest.
As of July 6, Rouge was released from the hospital and on the mend.
She is suffering from scars and painful and itchy rashes and had to start wearing a patch on her eye.
What is a Brown Recluse Spider?
A brown recluse spider is one of three venomous spiders found in the United States, typically in southern and central states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Missouri.
The spider, which usually measures around 1-1.5 inches long, is known for its dark brown, violin-shaped marking on its body.
Its long legs are a lighter brown color.
The spider has a powerful and dangerous bite that can cause humans to get sick or even die.
They typically live in dark and sheltered areas such as underneath a porch or woodpile.
Medical experts recommend wearing protective clothing whenever traveling through these areas to avoid being bitten.
Source: Mount Sinai
“My eye is what I’m really worried about,” Rouge told WANF.
“My eye is…I’m having a lot of pain. I just don’t know what’s going to happen with my eye.”
She told the outlet she is also suffering from a non-cancerous lymphoma/tumor from a car accident on her upper lip that is unrelated to the bite.
Despite the pain, she said she feels lucky.
“Some people don’t end up being as lucky as I am,” Rouge said.
As of Friday, the GoFundMe launched to help with her medical expenses had raised over $5,800.