It looks like children's love for superheroes has led to some major medical drama when three young Bolivian brothers taunted a black widow spider to bit them in hopes that it would give them the same powers as Spider-Man.
According to a report by Telemundo (via the New York Post), three Bolivian brothers ages 12, 10, and 8 were brought to the hospital after being bitten by a black widow spider. The boys found the spider while herding goats in Chayanta and prodded the arachnid into biting them so that they would turn into Spider-Man.
Though black widow spiders aren't aggressive, they do bite in self-defense. The brothers poked at the black widow with a stick until it bit each of them in return. Finding her songs crying, the mother of the boys rushed them to the nearest health center which transferred them to a nearby hospital. Then, the boys were transferred a fourth time to the Children's Hospital in La Paz after they experienced fevers, tremors, and muscle pain.
Black widow spiders are deadly arachnids with a venom that's 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake's. Though the bites rarely fatal to humans, it seems like young children, the elderly, and the sick, are at risk of death when bitten by black widows. The pain of a black widow bite can last for eight to twelve hours. Other symptoms can continue on for several days.
Luckily, the three Spider-Man wannabes managed to recover from the bite after the treatment. They were discharged a week after they were bitten.
This report ought to be a cautionary tale for parents all around the world – educate your children about the reality behind comic book movies.
Read: Possible First Look at Tom Holland's Peter Parker as Hawkeye in What If...? Episode
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