An American mother is recovering after multiple spider bites turned into a life-threatening medical emergency that left her fighting for life in hospital.
Britagne Miller was bitten several times by an arachnid on her leg in late May when she was enjoying time with her family by a campfire at Cheney Lake.
The mother-of-four, from Kansas, didn’t think much of the bites at first, but within days her condition rapidly deteriorated as swelling and pain developed in her calf.
She was admitted to Wesley Medical Centre in Wichita on June 4, where doctors discovered a large hematoma - a localised pool of blood clots caused by an injury - on her leg that required emergency surgery.
Her husband, Jake Miller, said the operation was complicated by his wife’s pre-existing end-stage liver disease.
“This made surgery and routine care far more dangerous — doctors warned she could bleed out,” he wrote in a GoFundMe statement set up in July.
“Multiple doctors told us she might have only days to a month to live and recommended hospice after just two weeks in the hospital.”
During her hospital stay, including 10 days in ICU, Ms Miller underwent surgery to remove the blood clots and developed two bacterial infections, Staphylococcus and gram-negative bacteria, at the site of a drain that was placed in her wound.
The infection became so severe Ms Miller developed sepsis - a life-threatening response that happens when the body has a harmful reaction to an infection - and was told by medical staff she had “three days up to a month to live,” the Daily Mail reports.
“The infection caused tissue necrosis around her stitches, and doctors had to perform two bedside procedures to remove dead skin and place her on additional antibiotics,” Mr Miller said.
“She refused to give up. She told the doctors she would fight to live as long as she could for her family, and she insisted they do everything possible to save her.”
During her gruelling recovery, Ms Miller recalled the pain and terrifying moment she was told she was facing a death sentence.
““This one kept swelling and swelling, and it was like a fire stir that’s metal. It was like shooting down my leg into my foot, and it felt like I was being stabbed,” she told KAKE News. “
“They couldn’t keep my levels above even critical. They gave me three days up to a month to live, so that was scary.”
Although Ms Miller considers herself lucky to be alive, her husband said she is not out of the woods yet and faces an extensive road to recovery at home.
“She’ll need a lot of home health care and weekly visits to specialists as the doctors keep an eye on her liver and blood clotting,” he said.
“She’ll also have physical therapy to help her learn to walk again on her right leg and get movement and feeling back in her right hand, plus work on her overall recovery.”
It is not known what species Ms Miller was bitten by, but Dr Raymond Cloyd, a horticultural entomologist at Kansas State University, said the Brown Recluse spider is commonly found in the area near the family’s campsite and has dangerous venom.
“The two venomous ones that we have in Kansas are the black widow spider, and the more numerous one is the brown recluse spider, which prevails throughout most of the Midwest to mid-central Kansas,” he told Kake News.
Mr Miller thanked every donor for helping to financially support his family during his wife’s long recovery by contributing to the GoFundMe’s $10,000 ($A14,200) goal.
“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for every prayer, every share, every donation, and every kind word,” he said.
“Your kindness has reminded us that even in life’s darkest moments, we are never truly alone.”
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