Spider bite kills Lincoln boy

The Tennessean
10/09/04

The state medical examiner has ruled a 5-year-old Lincoln County boy's death was the result of a spider bite, a fatality he described as rare.

Nicholas Robinson was bitten by a spider while playing outside his home July 29, said his mother, Starr Nicole Jackson. The boy showed her the bite the next morning and became sick later that day, she said.

He was taken to a doctor, who said the child's illness was likely being caused by a virus, not what he described as an insect bite, the family said. Later that night, Robinson was taken to the emergency room where he died.

Dr. Bruce Levy's report wasn't completed until Thursday because of the rarity of the incident.

''In about the last 30 or 40 years, I was only able to find about six deaths related to bites proving to be from a brown recluse spider,'' Levy told WTVF-Channel 5 in Nashville.

The official cause of death was listed as accidental. The poison from the bites caused the victim to suffer hypersalivation, sweating and neurological problems shortly before he died, the report said.

— Associated Press

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Damn that really sucks


Spiders have no right to live

My Aunt recieved a bite from a Brown recluse on the stomach. No big deal at first. Then it looked like a 12 gauge rifled slug wound about 4 inches deep. Very nasty.