André Snyman has his feet up after suspected spider bite

A prominent member of the Sandton community and eBlockwatch founder André Snyman has been lying with his leg up for the past three weeks following an infection in his leg that is thought to have been caused by a spider bite.

Snyman said 10 days after returning from a trip to Mozambique, he came down with a horrible fever, leading him to believe that he had malaria. After visiting the doctor twice, he was treated for malaria, but tests showed that he did not have malaria.

A short time later, he woke up with pain and swelling in his left leg from the knee to the ankle. “The doctor put me in hospital, saying that I had cellulitis. I was put on an antibiotic for secondary infections and stayed on a drip for three days,” said Snyman.

He said that soon after the infection began in his leg, he wondered whether it was, in fact, a spider that had bitten him while at home in Bryanston.

“I certainly never felt the bite, but suspect that when I was spraying down insects in my ceiling, something could have bitten me.”

Snyman was flooded with comments on Facebook after posting the images of his leg, some suspecting that it was a violin spider that gave the bite.

“The doctor said he had seen something like this before, but he is 99 per cent sure that it was a spider.”

Snyman added that the nurses and doctors have given him fantastic treatment. “I’m fortunate that I got to the hospital quickly, else it could have resulted in gangrene, or I [could even have] lost my leg.”

Snyman was discharged from hospital after a few days and has kept his leg above his heart to keep the blood flowing elsewhere in his body. He has assured Sandton Chronicle that he will be back on his feet soon.

Share your thoughts on this infection on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page.

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