by Max Gosney
A Somerset pub chef was left fighting for his life after being bitten by one of the world's deadliest spiders. Matthew Stevens, who is head chef at the Quantock Gateway in Bridgwater, collapsed after encountering a Brazilian Wandering Spider in the pub's kitchen.
Stevens explained how he received a double bite from the eight-legged impostor, which was likely to have arrived at the pub via a box of South American bananas, during cleaning duties.
He said: "It was hiding in a cloth and when I squeezed the cloth it bit me. I went to try and pick it up and it bit me again. It landed in the freezer, which stunned it."
Stevens snapped the arachnid attacker on his mobile phone camera before heading to the local community hospital for treatment. He was discharged but quickly returned to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, after his condition deteriorated. Stevens added: "I thought I wasn't going to make it. My chest was so tight I could hardly breathe."
The chef was successfully treated after doctors, studying Stevens' picture, consulted Bristol Zoo and identified the Wandering Spider bite. Experts rank the arachnid as the world's most poisonous spider, containing enough venom to kill 225 mice. Human victims suffer irregular heartbeat, vomiting and death if untreated.
But attacks are rare, explained Warren Spencer, head of invertebrates at Bristol Zoo. "I've heard of only a couple of instances where they have been found in the UK," he said.
Fellow pub chefs expressed shock after the spider attack. Nigel Ramsbottom, proprietor/chef at the Swan at Monks Eleigh, Suffolk, said: "I've seen bugs when cleaning but never something like that. If I did come across a Wandering Spider I'd be out the kitchen like a shot." Stevens has made a full recovery and returned to work at the pub.