Woman ‘loses finger after being bitten by a spider’

Andrea Wallace is reported to have been just hours away from death after she was bitten by a false widow spider.

Reports say the arachnid bit her left hand while she was playing outside with her children in Seaham, and within hours it had doubled in size.

The 44-year-old is said to have suffered agonising pain and was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital, where she was kept for six weeks as doctors battled to remove the poison from her system.

“You could see the poison tracking up the vein in my arm, the veins were changing colour, it was like something out of a horror film,” she told The Mirror.

The hairdresser was later ­diagnosed with the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis, which medics said had been caused by the insect bite.

Ms Wallace underwent 14 operations on her finger but eventually it had to be amputated.