Spider Bites Can Have Lasting Impact On Victims

CINCINNATI -- For a while, Laketa Cole wasn’t sure why she felt ill.

The city councilwoman couldn’t see the spider bite on her upper chest, but after her throat began to constrict at the onset of paralysis, she knew something was very wrong.

“A friend of mine said they did see a spider in the car on Sunday when we were going to breakfast,” said Cole, who’s among 20,000 Americans bitten each year by spiders.

Most bites are inconsequential, but some can be serious.

Michael Dulaney has undergone two surgeries on his right hand, where a poisonous brown recluse spider bit him 20 years ago.

“It's often the little guys that'll really pack the punch,” Dulaney said.

The black widow spider also lives in southern Ohio, and Dawn Jackson said she has a friend who was hospitalized for weeks after being bitten by one.

“Her body started to shut down, which could have took her life,” Jackson said.

Shawn Baker has a 3-year-old reminder of his own tissue-killing bite on his leg, and he said the scar is bigger than the spider that bit him.

“When you live downtown, you really don't think about it,” Baker said.

Spiders bite when their space is invaded, and many bites occur when you pick up cardboard boxes or put on gloves in an unused area.

“They don't like a lot of activity, so that's good for us,” Dulaney said.