Daniela Holmqvist is a rookie golfer on the Ladies European Tour, and also happens to be a cross between Chuck Norris and Bear Grylls. Golf Digest (via Deadspin) brings us one way to take care of a pesky Black Widow bite. Apparently, you dig out the venom with a golf tee. Holmqvist was on hole four at the Royal Canberra Golf Club on Tuesday during a pre-qualifier for the LPGA Tour's ISPS Handa Australian Open in Yarralumla, Australia. She felt a sharp pain in her ankle. She looked down and noticed a spider with the markings of a Black Widow. That's when most people would panic and yours truly would start sobbing, but not the young golfer. Rather than seek medical attention, Holmqvist decided to perform impromptu surgery. As Holmqvist's leg started to swell and the pain became intense, she made the quick decision to take matters into her own hands (she'd just been informed that a Black Widow bite can kill a child in as little as 30 minutes). She pulled a tee out of her pocket ("it was the only thing I had handy," she told Svensk Golf) and used it to cut open the wound so she could squeeze out the venom and keep it from spreading inside her body. "A clear fluid came out," she said. "It wasn't the prettiest thing I've ever done, but I had to get as much of it out of me as possible."Without skipping a beat, she then proceeded to finish her round, shooting a 74. That score, by the way, was not good enough to get her into the ISPS Handa Australian Open. For an act of such amazing savagery, I say Holmqvist deserves a lifetime inclusion in any tournament known to man. Hell, let her into March Madness for all I care. I particularly appreciate her plight because of my undying fear of spiders. Any waltz through a spider web is greeted with 15 minutes of flailing wildly as if I were suddenly set on fire. Even Tobey Maguire creeps me out because he once played Spider-Man. Anyhoo, we should now build a statue in Holmqvist's honor. And to the Black Widow that tried its best to take down a rookie golfer: You lose, buddy.
It's a nice story, but inaccurate, and misleading. Holmqvist was bitten by an indigines Australian Redback spider Latrodectus hasseltii, notan exotic American Black Widow spider (LatrodectusTheridiidae) The Redback has been rarely fatal to adults, though occasionally, young children have died as a result of a redback bite. Current medical treatment is apply an icepack to the bite site, rest the patient and to minimise patient movement. Digging around the bite site with a golf tee was foolhardy and unneccesary....doing so may have facilitated ingess of the venom into the bloodstream which offers a faster path to critical organs than the usual method of circulation via the much slower lymphatic system....hence the importance of restricting movemement...movement of the muscles in the limbs acts as the pump for circulating venom via the lymphatic system. There is an effective antivenine for Redback spider bites. Funnelweb spider bites are another whole ballgame...and more serious than Blackwidow bites. The oozing fluid from the bite site was most likely from digging around with the golf tee, rather than venom. The Redback has only small fangs and doesn't envenomate nearly as much as a Funnelweb spider or snakes do. I'm most surprised that there was no one on hand to render first aid. It is bizarre, that medical advice could not have been given by smart 'phone...all she needed was to sit, rest, have a cup of tea...and apply some ice to the bite...no especial stoicism required. Redback spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Latrodectus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
