An Irishman feared he would lose his penis after he claims he was bitten by a black widow spider.
Fergus Farrelly, 26, says he woke up to find a painful marble-sized lump on his private parts which would not stop growing.
As soon as it began to turn purple and hit the size of a golf ball the construction worker was rushed to hospital without a clue as to what it was.
After baffled doctors spotted venom belonging to a black widow spider in his blood, Fergus, from Shercock in Co Cavan, was prescribed a cocktail of drugs during his four-day hospital stint.
Fergus said: “I was convinced I would lose my penis.
“The doctors didn’t know any more than me and have never seen a bite down there, so I was very worried.
“When I woke up and saw this lump, I had no idea what it was — but it got larger and larger as days passed.
“After three days I went to A&E in so much pain — it felt like it was burning.
“I couldn’t believe it when they found the venom of a black widow spider in my blood — I’d never even heard of one before.
“I was in hospital for days on all kinds of drips after the giant lump burst — that was when I thought I would lose my penis altogether.
“I’m all healed now and I do find it a wee bit funny — but also scary, I had no idea what damage spiders could do.”
Fergus claims he had been staying at his mother’s house in Cavan, and when he woke up on January 7 he noticed a “marble-sized” lump on his penis.
Confused, he initially dismissed it — but over the following days, the lump grew to a worrying size.
On the third day, his girlfriend Lyndsey Duffy (21) urged him to visit A&E when the lump had reached the size of a golf ball, as well as turning purple.
They rushed to A&E at Cavan General Hospital but doctors there insisted he would need to be seen by a specialist — and he was quickly transferred to the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
To make matters worse, just hours after he arrived in A&E, the huge cyst burst — leaving a giant hole where it had once been.
With doctors baffled, he stayed in hospital where he was hooked up to an IV drip of antibiotics as they feared an infection.
Fergus said: “The doctors kept coming in and out for swabs and blood samples.
“I was just laying there in bed — I couldn’t walk or move even, because of the pain.”
But it wasn’t until several days had passed that doctors finally sussed out the mystery lump — after Fergus’ blood results came back.
Fergus claims that his test samples contained venom from a black widow spider — a dangerous red and black spider found worldwide — and that he is lucky to be alive.
