British Lawyer John Hogg is suing Qatar Airways after nearly losing a leg when he was bitten a brown recluse while on a flight to South Africa.
The flesh-eating venom from the spider whose bite caused a "small, sharp pain," eventually turned his leg black, reported SF Gate. Though at the time, before it turned black, he didn't think much of the injury.
"I turned on the light and clearly saw a spider running across the floor before hearing two stewardesses screaming 'Spider!', but I wasn't sure if I had been bitten as it really wasn't very painful," Hogg told The Telegraph.
However, within a few hours, his leg started to swell and turned black, and by the time he reached the hospital it was "bursting open."
Doctors rushed the barrister into surgery and cut away the part of his leg where the venom had eaten his flesh, however what was left "resembled something from a horror film," according to China Topix.
Doctors were able to save his leg, but Hogg, had to stay in the hospital for a month and undergo three operations and a skin graft for them to do so. As an avid soccer player and kickboxer, he's worried he may never play either again.
"It was a right mess. They told me if I had been any later I would have lost my leg or even died. It was terrifying," the 40-year-old lawyer said.
Despite the harrowing ordeal, Hogg says Qatar Airways has refused to accept responsibility for the spider bite.
"The only known interaction between the airline and Mr. Hogg regarding this incident, which he claims happened on a Qatar Airways aircraft in June, was via our website a week after his travel was complete," a Qatar Airways spokesperson said. "No report was filled with any staff on board regarding this incident."
