A 49-year-old man noticed itching on the left side of his chest that became a bump the next day. His symptoms worsened, and he sought urgent care but was sent home after the lump was mistaken for an ingrown hair. Three days later the bump turned black and expanded into a large crater, leading him to go to A&E and undergo surgery. Doctors removed a 50p-sized chunk of infected skin from his chest. He believes a false widow spider caused the injury after seeing a spider in his car and linking the bite location to where the seatbelt sits under his chest. He also noted rising hospital admissions for spider bites and plans to remove cobwebs to prevent recurrence.
"Adrian Martel began feeling an itchy sensation on the left side of his chest on 7 April that developed into a bump the following day. The 49-year-old decided to visit urgent care when his symptoms worsened, but said he was sent home when doctors mistook the lump for an ingrown hair. However, three days later Mr Martel's bump had turned black and developed into a 'massive crater', prompting him to visit A&E where he was taken into surgery."
"Doctors removed the 50p-sized chunk of infected skin from his chest. Mr Martel, who lives in Rotherhithe, London, believes it was caused by the UK's most dangerous spider - the false widow - as he had seen a spider inside his vehicle prior to the incident but thought nothing of it. NHS figures reveal that there were 100 hospital admissions in 2025 linked to spider bites - up from 47 in 2015."
"Mr Martel, a yoga teacher and circus performer, believes the spider was lurking on the seatbelt of his MINI convertible due to the location of the bite mark on his chest. Mr Martel said: 'I have a MINI Convertible and sometimes I see a spider inside the car. I never saw the spider bite me or anything. 'Because of where the bite is, when I put the seatbelt on I must've squished the spider and that's where it bit me because it's exactly where the seatbelt sits under my chest. I think it's likely it happened there.'"
"Mr Martel said: 'I just started noticing it was itchy at first then a bump under the skin [appeared] the next day. I thought it was a rash, I wasn't sure. 'Then the next Monday I was teaching yoga and the friction pain was unbearable.' Mr Martel decided to visit urgent care where he was given a course of ant"
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