Thursday, March 24, 2016, was unusually warm. Although, meteorologists announced rain, there wasn't sign of clouds anywhere in the sky. Adrian Maine from Sydney, Australia, imagined that he would use that day in the best possible way, before the extended Easter weekend. To do what he loves. He went to the forest just outside the northern suburbs of the city. He intended to continue making a bike path through wilderness. The company he ran for years dealt with the team. It was a pretty dirty job, digging and digging paths through no-brainer, but there was nothing to make him happier. When he found himself on the field, where only the canopy cast a shadow on him, where only birds and his colleagues could be heard, there was no happier man than him.
Over the years, this 40-year-old man has met most of the dangers lurking in the wild. While digging, he came across various snakes and spiders. He learned to distinguish dangerous from those who weren't a serious treat. He also underwent first aid training, although he considered it is a waste of time. Neither he nor anyone on his team was ever in danger.
The working day was coming to an end. Adrian has only a little digging left to go home and rest properly during the extended holiday weekend. Spade was left in the vehicle, parked about fifty meters away. He was thinking about going for tools, but the job seemed small. By the time he goes for the spade, he can already dig a hole. Beneath pilled up leaves, the ground seemed loose. He can also dig with his hands. He knelt down and began to unroll the leaves with his fists.
As soon as the fingers dived under the layer of leaves, he felt a short and sharp pain in his left hand. He quickly pulled out his fist. He saw that something was attached to his left index finger. The creature, about five centimeters long, held his finger tightly with its teeth, and he had the feeling that they had literally pierced his joint. It was as if nail had been driven into the middle of his finger.
It flowed through his head that what was happening wasn't the worst. He immediately recognized the creature that has bitten him. And that scared him. It was a Sydney hollow, also known as the Sydney funnel spider. He waved his hand convulsively trying to shake it of. It didn't help to flail left or right, or up or down. Regardless, he continued. Three or four seconds later the clenching of spider's teeth seemed to loosen. The spider fell at Adrian's feet.
A second later, he had already disappeared into the leaves, but it was enough for Adrian to see once again what kind it was. There was no doubt. A fully grown male Sydney funnel spider, the most venomous spider in Australia and one of the most venomous in the world. He almost laughed. He spent so many years in the woods, and he never had the slightest danger. He just thought it couldn't happen to him. It was enough of a moment of inattention to realize how wrong he had been. And in the most cruel way possible.
He knew he didn't have much time. Spider's poison is extremely strong and acts quickly. He sat down, trying to calm down in order to slow down the spread through the bloodstream. He called for help. His colleague Phil worked nearby. He heard Adrian and drooped his spade and run to him. He explained to him in only two sentences what had happened. Phil helped him to get up. They walked slowly toward the vehicle. Adrian pressed his ankle tightly above his fist. That was the only way he could do, to slow down the effect of the poison at least a little. They didn't speak. They both know what such a bite could mean. It the antidote is isn't take in time, death occur in a hour or two.
Fortunately, the path they were working on was close to Hornsby Hospital. Phil didn't want to waste time and to the end he stepped on the gas pedal, ran through the forest, cut paths and curves. When he finally reached suburbs, he was driving across the sidewalk with the manic pressing of a siren. The walkers was upset by his diving and move with panic, while he was just looking to get to the hospital, at the cost of the probably of all possible traffic penalties.
A few minutes later, with the squeak of the brakes, the jeep stopped in the front of the hospital. Phil helped Adrian get to admissions department. They explained to the nurse at the reception, as calmly as they could, that Adrian has been bitten by dangerous spider. She called the doctors, so the unfortunate man quickly found himself in a hospital bed.
He felt slightly dizzy. He would then sink into the void, and return just as quickly. At times it would seem to him to be extinguished. Maybe it's the end? And it doesn't hurt too much. He was conscious enough to talk to his nurses, who kept asking him questions, to keep him conscious. He was attached to the device that monitor all life functions. Although the intensive care unit of that hospital accepts patients who were bitten by a spider on average once a week, they didn't have suitable antidote. They were looking for him, so they could only wait and monitor the patients condition. Minutes passed like hours.
Half an hour later Adrian suddenly disappeared. The conversation he had had with the nurses then is over. The sentences became more and more incomprehensible. He failed to finish the thought. His face twitched, he trembled. It was as if he had a fever. He was sweating, vomiting. The doctors knew what it was all about. His body is trying to fight the poison, but it is getting weaker and weaker. It was a matter of hours before he would give up.
During that time, the employees of the Reptile Park were feverishly searching for the last doses of antidotes. This is also a kind of farm, where they perform drain of spider's venom, in order to get an antidote from their venom. Only, they hadn't done that for months, so now they were searching the refrigerators. Several doses made earlier miraculously passed. They were quickly sent to the hospital.
When the shipment finally arrived, Adrian was in very poor condition. Doctors monitored the condition on the monitors, but they couldn't do anything. As soon as the antidote arrived, they injected him with one dose. A little later and another. His health condition slowly began to stabilize. The body received much-needed help in fighting the venom. A few hours later he was already conscious. He talked to the doctors and now his sentences made sense.
He remained under observation for another twenty-four hours and was released from the hospital. The first thing he did when he entered the house was to pack his things in the car. He intended to spend the Easter holidays with his family camping, as they planned months earlier. Not even the sharp pain, the usual companion of a spider's bite, prevent him from doing so.
It took more then three weeks for him to fully recover. Only, from that bite, he still does some things a little more differently. He always uses a spade when he digs something and always looks where the nearest hospital is. And he sends every spider he and his team catch to Reptile Park. If he has used up the antidote, it's time to make up for it.
Lead image and literature: Politica's Entertainer, number 3587
