Keith Pierce was a happy and healthy child, who loved to play football.
But only a month after his tenth birthday, Keith passed away from an infection caused by a brown recluse spider.
It all happened in a short period of time, when one of his legs began to swell up. Even though Keith’s parents quickly brought him to the hospital, his condition did not get better.
At first, the doctors thought that Keith might have cancer.
Although Keith’s mother, Mandy, suggested that the swelling might be because of a spider bite, doctors did not listen. So, after ruling out the possibility of cancer, doctors sent him back home.
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A week later, though, Keith was rushed back to St Vincent Hospital when his pain and symptoms worsened.
A strange dark, round mark was now visible on his leg.
Even though doctors treated him with strong drip IV antibiotics, Keith’s symptoms were not going away. Two days later, sepsis – a type of blood poisoning – set in. Keith went in for an emergency surgery; however, it was too late. Keith never woke up.
The coroner later ruled that the cause of Keith’s death was severe sepsis due to complications of a spider bite.
After his death, Keith’s family created a Facebook page to honor Keith and to raise awareness of the dangers and symptoms of a spider bite.
Sadly, though, Keith was not the only one who died from a brown recuse spider.
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Just a few months after Keith’s death, another young boy in North Carolina died after being bitten by the same type of spider. The victim was a five-year-old named Branson Riley Carlisle. Even though he was rushed to the hospital, after the symptoms started to show, Branson’s condition only worsened.
The brown recluse spider that killed these boys is also known as the fiddleback spider, which has venomous bite.
These deadly spiders are widely across the country and are most prevalent in states such as Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Ohio.
If you’ve been bitten, NBC Montana strongly suggests that you wash the wound with hot, soapy water and then place a cold and damp compress on top. After doing so, if you feel pain or sickness at any point, you have to contact your doctor immediately.
Please share this post with your friends and family to let them know about the brown recuse spider. Also, please pray for both families of Keith and Branson.