Spider Burrows Into Tourist's Chest for 3 Days

Doctors finally figure out what's causing growing red scar
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2014 6:27 PM CDT
Updated Oct 16, 2014 7:04 PM CDT
Spider Burrows Into Tourist's Chest for 3 Days
A spider weaves a web between tropical trees at Flamingo Gardens in Davie, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. It's not clear yet what type made its home in Dylan Thomas' body.   (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Bali's tourist bureau will not be eager to share this story: A tropical spider burrowed into the skin of an Australian tourist and stayed there for three days before doctors finally figured out what was causing the nasty marks on his chest, reports the NT News of Australia. Dylan Thomas woke up Saturday morning with an angry red scar about 2 inches long extending up from his navel. That night, it was 3 inches longer. He went to a doctor on Sunday and was given a cream to deal with what was believed to be an insect bite. It didn't help, and painful red blisters came next. On Monday, doctors called in a dermatologist, who finally figured out what was happening and plucked the spider from his skin.

"It wasn't really a tickling sensation, obviously once the venom started to affect my skin it was a really burning sensation like a searing feeling," Thomas, 21, told a radio station, according to WAToday. The best guess is that the spider got inside Thomas' skin via a scar from a recent appendectomy. "It takes a lot to deter me, but I do feel violated," says Thomas, now known to his friends as Spider-Man—who was, by the way, staying in a four-and-a-half-star hotel room when the incident occurred. Health authorities are testing the spider to figure out what kind it was. (Click to read about spiders that drove a family from their Missouri home.)

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