A young student tragically died after being potentially bitten by a spider, a coroner said.
Harry Bolton, 19, a second-year student at the University of Hull, was found dead at his shared house in Chancellor's Walk. An inquest was told that four days prior, Harry complained about feeling unwell after suffering a spider bite.
His fellows at the student accommodation complex on Cottingham Road had previously reported that there was a spider infestation. The hearing heard that on October 7, 2021, Harry's housemate noticed that he wasn't responding to his text messages, Hull Live reports.
After returning home from work that night, he and another housemate knocked on Harry's door but there was no response. Site security was then called and broke down Harry's room door.
Once the light in the room was turned on, Harry was found in his bed. Police and paramedics were called and noticed a large wound on Harry's back which appeared to be infected, but tragically Harry was pronounced dead at the scene.
Harry had complained of spider bite in days before
On October 3, 2021 - just four days earlier - Harry told his friends that a spider bit him on his back and that he wasn't feeling well.
After his friend suggested that he go to A&E, Harry attended Hull Royal Infirmary at 9.40pm - experiencing a high heart rate and temperature. A blood sample was taken at the hospital but nothing of high risk was detected.
However, a CRP blood test came back with a level of 54, suggesting there was inflammation. Ben Rayer, an A&E consultant at Hull Royal Infirmary, told the court this was not something that would be flagged up by the labs as something of immediate risk.
By 1.01am, on October 4, Harry made the decision to discharge himself from the hospital. He informed staff that he would go to bed and attend a walk-in centre the next day. However, that following morning was the last time he was seen by his fellow housemates.
Coroner Paul Marks determined that Harry died as a result of sepsis, due to an acute chest infection, due to an infected wound on his back.
"Had he not been bitten by an invertebrate, possibly a spider, he would not have died at that time," Mr Marks said. "It is an incredibly unfortunate case. He had a promising future ahead of him."
Previous reports of spiders in the house
Another housemate, Kacper-Krysztof Zydron, provided evidence in court and discussed how he had received a similar bite to his neck in August 2021. Kacper said that while it started off "hurting a bit", the bite progressively got worse over the next few days.
He went to A&E and was told to take some paracetamol but when this didn't work, he called a GP and asked for antibiotics. He made Ashcourt Student Housing aware about the spider problem in an email, where he attached an image of a spider which Kacper took the following day.
However, the inquest heard how an inspection by the maintenance team did not discover an infestation. A clause in the tenancy agreement also highlighted that any low-level pest intrusions were ultimately the responsibility of the tenants, the hearing heard.
After Harry's tragic death, pest control was called to the building, with a survey consequently being carried out.
Sticky traps were laid out by the workers and it was revealed that there was a normal number of insects in the house, taking into account the time of the year.
A JustGiving fundraising site raised more than £1,600 in Harry's memory for Eczema Research.
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