When Zachary Harakas felt a pain in his right leg while gardening in his backyard, he thought nothing of it.
When he looked down he saw a brown spider scurrying away and his first thought was, ‘Could this be a… bite?’, but the pain wasn’t bad enough to dwell on it for long.
Within days, however, the Missouri father of three’s leg began to swell, turn green and rot.
He was rushed to hospital, where he was found to have necrosis and tissue death beneath his skin.
Doctors cut away chunks of flesh and muscle to stop the infection and possibly save his leg.
Zachary Harakas, of Missouri, pictured above in the hospital, is treated for a spider bite
Doctors suspect he was bitten by the brown recluse spider (stock photo), which lives in sixteen states in the US – mainly in the South – and is venomous
His wound is now healing well and doctors say he has regained full movement and can resume his normal life, but they warn that if he had been brought in a day later he might not have survived.
Tests revealed that Mr Harakas was suffering from necrotising fasciitis, a serious infection caused by the bacteria from the spider.
In the early stages, patients experience pain, redness and flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills and fatigue.
However, if left untreated, large areas of skin and muscle can turn black from necrosis. This can lead to amputations and fatal sepsis, where the immune system overreacts to an infection, causing organs to start failing.
According to the CDC, about 18 percent of patients who develop necrotizing fasciitis die from the condition.
Mr. Harakas was bitten by the spider on July 3 while sitting outside on his patio.
In the days that followed, he suffered from fever, swelling and pain around the wound before arriving at the hospital on July 8.
He was kept in intensive care for three days before being transferred to the surgical and wound care unit, where he remains.
He will likely remain in the hospital for months and will require multiple plastic surgeries to repair his damaged leg.
MR Harakas, a father of three, was bitten in the leg while sitting outside on his terrace
He is pictured above in the hospital with his physician, Dr. Andrew Benedict, who is a trauma surgeon
Talking to local broadcaster KSHB number 41, Mr Harakas said: ‘Outside, in the outside world, no one thinks about a spider bite.
I have heard of this [happening]…but here we are.’
According to Dr. Andrew Benedict, a trauma surgeon at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City who treated Mr. Harakas, the bite may have come from a brown recluse spider.
“Our first thought was, could this be a recluse spider bite?” he said.
‘Sometimes spider bites can cause a local reaction, which can even lead to death of the skin.
“In Zachary’s case, it didn’t cause the skin to die. It just caused the tissue under the skin to die.”
Friends of Mr. Harakas have now set up a GoFundMe to help the family pay their medical bills. So far, it has raised $2,860 of the $10,000 goal.
Mr Harakas, who runs his own cleaning company, is worried about paying the bills as he currently has no income.
A family friend wrote online: ‘Zachary currently has no income and has to provide for his three children.
“He is incredibly kind and compassionate, would help anyone in need and is a devoted father. Any help would be appreciated.”
The brown recluse spider is venomous, but its venom is rarely harmful to humans because only a small amount of venom is injected with each bite.
Scientists say the venom contains an enzyme that can damage blood vessels and kill nearby cells.
The spiders are common in the southern states and some midwestern states, and often hide in dry areas such as caves, rocks, and woodpiles.
It is estimated that fewer than three people die from spider bites each year in the United States. It is thought that hundreds of people are bitten.
