Posted on 01/07/2005 8:13:18 PM PST by yankeedame
Spider's bite halts train in its tracks
January 8, 2005
RAYMOND Rutter's morning driving a commuter train from Gosford to Sydney became a race against time to save the life of a passenger bitten by a funnelweb spider.
The 20-year-old victim, from Gosford, who did not wish to be named, boarded Mr Rutter's train at 9.41am on Thursday at Gosford.
The spider was inside her handbag. At 10.30am, the woman screamed for help when the spider bit her on the finger when she reached inside the bag.
Her cry for help sent most fellow arachnophobic passengers fleeing to other carriages, but some elderly passengers stayed to comfort her.
Guard Bronwyn Christopher immediately came to the woman's aid. She alerted Mr Rutter who stopped the train at Waitara.
Within 10 minutes, the young woman said ambulance officers treated her, and took her to Hornsby Hospital.
She didn't need anti-venine as she escaped with a dry bite that did not release a drop of potentially deadly venom.
The funnelweb was still on the loose, crawling on seats.
Mr Rutter used a coffee cup to catch it so ambulance officers could identify it.
"I knew it was very important for the ambulance officers to know what kind of spider it was, so I caught it in the carriage and gave it to them once they arrived to help the young girl, who was in a lot of pain," he said yesterday.
Mr Rutter praised his crew, saying he could not have caught the spider and helped his passenger without them.
"We all worked together to keep the passengers on the train calm, while we assisted the girl," he said.
The woman said she was very grateful for CityRail's help with her unexpected medical emergency.
"Everyone was fantastic, and they worked hard to help me get the medical attention I needed," she said.
With 40 years of train driving experience, Mr Rutter said the young woman's close encounter of the eight-legged kind has taught him one valuable lesson.
"I always double-check the inside of my shoes now to see if there's anything crawling around in them," he said.
The Daily Telegraph
Such courage!
Except that it wasn't, when you read the full story. Journalists are con artists. They sell you X and deliver Y or perhaps nothing at all.
Some of us don't respond to well to spiders... I need my Glock to kill them /Sarc. On a recent trip out of the country one came in the house and it was the size of a hand outstretched, it was fast enough to disapear if you blinked.
Bloody He!! I hate spiders.
You must never harm a spider
You must always love and guide her
And invite her in the nursery to play.
Dahl.
Spider "bit" or spider "bite"? That is the question.
I thought it was funny because the young lady screams "HELP!" and everybody runs away.
They wouldn't know initially because the bite of a funnel-web spider is potentially life-threatneing.
I think that only the venom of the male funnel-web is lethal.
Funnelwebs are black widow spiders on anabolic steroids. Even if you stomp the sucker, it can bite through your leather sole of your boot and envenomate you. Australia can't just have poisonous snakes and spiders, they have the most poisonous snakes and spiders.
Funnelwebs are black widow spiders on anabolic steroids. Even if you stomp the sucker, it can bite through your leather sole of your boot and envenomate you. Australia can't just have poisonous snakes and spiders, they have the most poisonous snakes and spiders.
That's not a really icky spider - I've got lots of ickies..Black Widows and Brown Recluses and a multitude of Jumping Spiders, Orbs, and other spiders I haven't taken the time to identify - I just kill 'em, usually with a deadly pesticide - I don't like squashing them, 'cause sometimes they (esp. the Widows) are too juicy (you know what I mean?).
It's all good :) I think it's funny too cause i would probably run away at first too LOL
> "I always double-check the inside of my shoes now to see
> if there's anything crawling around in them," he said.
I would have thought that anyone who lived in funnel-web
territory would routinely do that. The FW is one nasty
spider. The fangs easily penetrate toenails.
http://www.usyd.edu.au/anaes/venom/spiders.html
LOL! Well, 'course it's spider bite. I know, I know, I should have spent a little more time proof-reading it but...burrr...just posting this article gave me the heebie-jeebies!
Well, this article is a news story, not a damn novel.
By the time it was written, the race wasn't to save a life. At best, it was a race in order to possibly save a life, and the reporter knew which it was when it was written.
Tastes like sh**, but you can live off them.
...so I caught it in the carriage and gave it to them once they arrived to help the young girl, who was in a lot of pain," he said yesterday.
Pain from what?
Ewwwwwwww ewwwwww ewwwwwww
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