The incident occurred in the town of Vichuloma, Oruro province of the South American country of Bolivia, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
While playing by the river near his house, the boy accidentally discovered a black widow spider under a large rock. Not realizing that it was an extremely poisonous spider, the boy put the spider on his hand hoping to be bitten so he could have super powers like Spider-Man.
After being bitten by a spider, the boy put it in a glass and went home. At first, the boy did not tell his mother about the incident. But about 3 hours later, the boy began to feel body pain and severe muscle spasms. When asked by his mother, the boy told his mother that he had been bitten by a colorful spider.
Immediately afterwards, the boy was taken to a medical center and then transferred to San Juan de Dios General Hospital in Oruro city. Doctors contacted Mr. Ernesto Vásquez – a zoonotic disease expert at the Oruro Health Department – to identify the spider species.
Speaking to EFE, Mr. Vásquez said: “The child did not take into account the risks and placed it on the back of his hand for the spider to bite.”
After discovering that the boy had been bitten by a black widow spider, doctors treated the boy with anti-venom and his condition stabilized within about half an hour.
Mr Vásquez said: “We were extremely worried because the results of the analysis and the questions asked to the child once he had recovered showed that he picked up the spider with the simple intention of becoming a spider. Spiderman”.
Medical experts advise that parents need to point out to their children, especially those under 11 years old, about the dangers of spider bites like this. If not handled immediately, the consequences could become “very unfortunate”.
“These red-backed black spiders are black widow spiders. They cannot make anyone become Spider-Man, on the contrary, they can endanger the life of the person who is bitten” – Mr. Vásquez emphasized.
According to Newsweek, black widow spiders are one of the poisonous spiders of the genus Latrodectus. Most female spiders have distinctive red hourglass-shaped markings on the underside of their abdomen, standing out against their dark bodies.
Latrodectus spiders, commonly known as widow spiders, are found on every continent except Antarctica. The venom of these spiders contains a neurotoxin called alpha-latrotoxin. This substance affects the nervous system and can cause symptoms such as pain, redness and swelling around the bite, causing stomach cramps, nausea, tremors and sweating.
However, despite their fearsome reputation, these spiders tend to only bite in self-defense or in response to threats. People bitten by widow spiders usually do not suffer any serious complications, although they may experience varying degrees of discomfort and may require medical treatment in more serious cases.
Despite this, in very rare cases, bites from some species of widow spiders have resulted in death due to severe disruption of nerve signals in the body. In general, young children, the elderly and people with health problems can be at risk if bitten by this spider. Bites from female widow spiders tend to be more dangerous to humans than bites from male spiders.
In 2020, three boys in the town of Chayanta, Bolivia were also bitten by black widow spiders in the hope of becoming real-life Spider-Man.