Horrifying urban legend! Imagine if it were true! Got any more?
By James72
@James72 (26790)
Australia
August 10, 2008 6:47am CST
One of the most disgusting and frightening stories I have heard was in relation to this guy that was exploring the Amazon jungle. While out in the jungle he was bitten on the face while sleeping and the locals gave him an ointment to put on it to ease the sting.
He didn't think much more of it but when he returned to his home country he noticed a swelling that had started where he had been bitten. He ignored it at first but after a week or so it got to the point where the lump on his face was so large he had to go to a Doctor to get it checked.
When he arrived at the Doctor's he was poked and prodded and it was decided to put him on antibiotics for a week or so. He took the pills but the lump continued to get bigger. After the 10 day course of antibiotics he returned to the Doctor who then decided to take a sample of the "fluid" inside the lump for a biopsy. When the Doctor inserted the needle to extract the fluid the lump burst open and literally THOUSANDS of baby spiders came flooding out of it..... So the insect did not BITE him; it was a spider laying its eggs.
The thought of something like this is horrifying to me! And as far as I know it is nothing but an urban legend. Do you know of any others like this or even worse??
3 people like this
5 responses
@SViswan (12051)
• India
12 Aug 08
lol..I've started working full time...I am off this week because my baby needs to recuperate from an infection.
Back to the topic...yes, it's easy to scrape out maggots from an open wound.
But do you think a spider can lay eggs inside the skin and then the eggs hatch in there?
Didn't this man have any pain? I'm sure it would have hurt if the spiders were trying to feed on him. Thinking about it creeps me out.
I'm not sure if this could be true....where did you read it?
1 person likes this
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
12 Aug 08
Hi! Long time no see! I have seen maggot infested wounds too; but at least in most cases they are open wounds and you can scrape the maggots out! The thought of having something inside my body growing like this and just waiting to emerge is extremely unsettling for me. Thanks for responding.
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
12 Aug 08
For the record it turns out that it IS definitely an urban legend. If you check the link provided by RYBD above you will see the reference to this. There are some spiders that do actually lay their eggs on the backs or inside other insects such as caterpillars so the babies can feed off the host when they hatch so this scenario is definitely feasible. If this was a real case then yes, you would assume that the person would at least FEEL something moving! Man, this is gross! The thoughts going through my mind right now are not very enjoyable I can tell you! I hope that everything is fine after the hospital etc now too.
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
10 Aug 08
Ever seen a maggot infested wound on a living animal? Sometimes flys will lay eggs in just a scratch on an otherwise healthy animal resulting in an eruption of maggots feeding on the living animal. Why not a species of spiders somewhere else in the world that does the same thing? I'm not saying this is not an urban legend, just saying it is feasible.
1 person likes this
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
10 Aug 08
Yes I have definitely seen maggots in a wound on an animal and even a person. But I do also remember reading that they use maggots even in hospitals etc to help remove infected tissue and to aid in healing so maybe this is not so bad after all.
The spider egg laying scenario is feasible yes but I have not been able to find any supporting information of a real case so am assuming it is an urban legend of sorts. And I have to admit that I WANT it to not be true as well! Something like this is surely up there in my top ten of things that I would consider as one of the worse things that could happen to me! Thanks for responding.
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
10 Aug 08
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blbugs.htm
There you go. They say it is only an urban legend.
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@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
31 Aug 08
hi James yes I have heard of stupid urban legends in which
a woman thought she was pregnant and turns out a watermelon
was growing from some seed she had swallowed. completely
false but people do love to get scared silly over stupid
stuff that they should know cannot possibly be true. Like
the one urban legend about m and ms having bug juice used'
in their coating, completely a hoax but a lot of people still believe it.
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
31 Aug 08
Oh! A watermelon growing inside??? At least you would bnever get hungry I guess! lol. I have heard something similar about people drinking river water and swallowing water snake eggs and then having the eggs hatch inside their stomachs..... And maybe with M&M's they are trying to make out that they use Shellac (not sure how to spell it) which is used as a typer of varnish to make the M&M's shiny? Shellac IS actually made from bugs shells. Yuck, there is no way of course that M&M would do this but the thought is disgusting! Thanks for responding Hatley and reviving this discussion!
1 person likes this
@raclie (1732)
• Singapore
12 Aug 08
ughhh...
that is so disgusting!!!!!
but i dont think it is true....
the spiders will not be able to breath and also, if it does, they will be really weak and all...
and he would have felt moving as well....
so, i dont think that it is possible....
@trishasantos (1296)
• Philippines
12 Aug 08
true or not, it is still disgusting.. yikes! Imagine having spiders on your face. I am not afraid of them but having it on your face?! ugghhh... no way... I never heard of this story but really, it is disgusting and horryfying... and I could it imagine it right now.. uggghh....
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