As someone who is extremely allergic to most bug bites, this is basically my worst nightmare.
An Arizona man was going about his ordinary daily life when he felt a sharp sting on his arm.
Thomas Jay of Chandler, Arizona, didn’t recognize the bug that bit him earlier in July 2017, while he was taking out the trash — it was a type of insect he’d never seen before. The bite or sting left behind a small, red puncture wound where the strange bug had struck, but the bite mark continued to get worse and worse.
On a GoFundMe page that Thomas’ wife, Dee Petrov, set up to raise money for her husband’s medical care, Dee wrote that the bite “became an emergency in a matter of hours,” sending the couple running to a local urgent care and two hospitals within 24 hours after the incident.
Ten days after the bite, Thomas’ arm is almost completely covered in severe bruises. Nearly the entire length of the limb is affected. Thomas says that there is still “excruciating pain” in his arm, moving from different places at different times.
Doctors still aren’t sure what bug bit Thomas and why exactly he had such a strange reaction to the bite. According to NY Daily News, Dee said that the bug resembled a Solifugae, a spider-like bug native to warm and arid habitats. But as Thomas’ story gains more coverage, helpful strangers are chiming in with their own stories and trying to help the couple identify the bug that bit Thomas.
Dee says that Thomas is doing better. In the meantime, Thomas has agreed to be part of a case study so that doctors can figure out what happened and help others who might experience this same situation.
Have you ever had a bug bite reaction like this?
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