A mum almost lost her leg after being bitten by a spider at a music festival - leaving her with a wound that became so infected doctors had to cut out a chunk of it while she was awake.
Stacey Grimes was at The Big 90s Festival in Southend, Essex, with her partner in October last year - when a mark appeared on her lower right leg.
The 33-year-old assumed she must have banged her leg at the open air event and not realised, mistaking the mark for a bruise.
But days later it blistered over and became infected and when antibiotics didn't help, the restaurant manager went to A&E where doctors revealed it was a spider bite.
Doctors were then forced to cut the infected tissue out of Stacey's leg immediately while she was awake and refer her for a skin graft, warning that otherwise she could lose her leg to the infection.
Horrifying photos show how the tiny bite grew into an infected, open sore before the surrounding chunk of flesh had to be cut away and replaced with healthy skin.
Stacey, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said: "I was with my partner and we'd been to an open air music thing at the park.
"I came back the next day and thought I'd bashed my leg when I was out. It just looked like a bruise so for the first couple of days I thought nothing of it.
"After a couple of days it blistered over like a water blister and that's when I realised it must be something else.
"It popped under my clothes and looked like it was going to heal but then it scabbed over and looked red and inflamed - that's when I rang the doctors.
"They sent me some antibiotics and said 'if they don't work give us a call back and we'll send you some different ones' but the antibiotics did nothing.
"I'm a waitress and I was at work on a long weekend and by the end of the weekend my leg was starting to throb and hurt.
"I decided to go to A&E and when I got there they literally wouldn't let me leave. They said they needed to cut it out there and then because it was infected.
"They said to me if I had left it any longer I could've ended up with sepsis and lost my leg. It was scary hearing that because I didn't think it could be that bad.
"They said I was lucky because it was so infected."
The mum of three called her GP about a week after the suspected spider bite, when it blistered and became infected.
She says that due to Covid restrictions she couldn't be seen in person and so was prescribed antibiotics after a phone appointment.
When the antibiotics failed to heal the wound, Stacey was forced to go to A&E at Southend Hospital - almost three weeks after the spider bite.
There doctors immediately cut out the two-inch wide and one-and-a-half-inch deep chunk of infected tissue, warning that the limb could turn septic if left any longer.
Stacey was then referred to Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, Essex, for a skin graft, which she underwent the following week, in November 2021.
Stacey said: "I think they injected my leg about 25 times round the outside of it before they cut it out with a scalpel.
"When they were cutting it out they had to keep injecting it more and they ended up giving me gas and air like when you're giving birth because it was still so painful.
"I was crying. The woman in there was holding my hand and I was screaming in pain.
"I've given birth to three kids and I'd rather give birth than go through that again because it was excruciating.
"I was referred to have a skin graft on it because it was such a big hole in my leg that the only thing that could be done was a skin graft.
"They took the skin from the bottom part of my leg next to it and stretched it over - originally they were going to take it from the top part of my thigh and I would've had two wounds."
After the skin graft surgery, Stacey returned to the hospital for check-ups every couple of days for five weeks to ensure the hole in her leg healed properly.
She says the painful wound left her unable to walk for a week and a half after the op and unable to work or drive for six weeks.
She has now been left with a scar just above her right ankle but says she is relieved that the long healing process is over.
Stacey said: "After the surgery my leg was inflamed and lumpy all around the scar. It didn't even look like my leg anymore.
"I knew summer was coming up and thought I'd be wearing long socks to cover it. It was horrible.
"Some of the skin grew over the stitches and they had to dig them out, so in places it still looks quite red.
"I was in so much pain for ages and then I couldn't walk, drive or go to work. It affected my whole life.
"The scar is not as bad now, the bottom part still has quite a few lumps and stuff on it and it's quite purple but it has gone down in places."
The mum now hopes to warn others about the seriousness of spider bites and to encourage anyone that suspects they have been bitten to get checked by a doctor as soon as possible.
Stacey said: "I've spent my whole life in gardens and parks and never thought that could happen - to end up having part of your leg cut off.
"Now, if that happened again, I'd be straight up to A&E - if I had gone to A&E straight away I might not have had to have the skin graft.
"I think a lot of people don't realise that we have spiders over here that can do that.
"Anyone that suspects they have a spider bite should go and get it checked out for definite."
The Big 90s Festival have been contacted for comment.
