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44-year-old mother is attacked by a horde of poisonous spiders while cleaning and wears an eye patch with serious injuries

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A mother suffered excruciating pain after being attacked by a horde of poisonous spiders while cleaning outside her house.

Jessica Rouge was cleaning out a shed on her property on July 1 when she was attacked by the poisonous arachnids.

A mother of three was attacked by a group of brown recluse spiders while cleaning a shed outside her Georgia homePhoto credit: ANF
Jessica Rouge described the extreme pain she felt when she was hospitalized after the spider attackPhoto credit: ANF
Brown recluse spiders are one of three venomous spider species found in the United StatesPhoto credit: Getty
Their bite can cause serious illness or even deathPhoto credit: ANF

Rouge, 44, was sweeping at the cabin in Bogart, Georgia, about 60 miles east of Atlanta, when she felt something on her face, she told local television station WANF.

“I immediately felt something on my face next to my eye,” she said.

“I felt like I had been bitten.”

The mother of three children said she suffered bites in several places on her body because she got caught in a net in the shed.

“There were spiders on me,” she said.

“Where I was, it was a really chaotic network, and I tried to clean it up.”

Just 24 hours after being bitten, Rouge ended up in the hospital.

Rouge said she had been bitten by spiders before, but this time was different because of the type of spider it was – a brown recluse spider.

The bites caused her face, arms and neck to swell so much that she could barely open her eyes.

She felt as if her skin was burning and suffered numbness and limited mobility in her hands and feet, according to a GoFundMe page set up for her.

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“I had no idea what it was, there was no way it could have done that to me,” Rouge said.

Brown recluse spiders are one of three venomous spider species found in the United States.

They are most commonly found in the southern and central states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri.

The spiders are only 2.5 to 3.8 centimeters long and have three pairs of eyes.

They are recognizable by the dark brown, violin-shaped markings on their upper body and have much lighter legs.

Their bite is known to contain poison that can cause serious illness or even death in humans.

Medical experts advise against treating a brown recluse spider bite at home.

Instead, they urge anyone who is bitten to call 911 or a local poison control center.

Typical symptoms of a brown recluse spider bite can be:

  • chills
  • itching
  • Discomfort
  • Fever
  • Nausea
  • Discoloration in a circle around the bite, in a red or purple color
  • Sweat
  • Large wound around the bite

Rare symptoms may include:

  • Blood in urine
  • Yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes
  • Kidney failure
  • Seizures
  • coma

To protect yourself from a possible bite, Mount Sinai experts recommend wearing protective clothing when in areas where the spiders live, such as dark and sheltered areas like a porch or woodpile.

Experts also strongly advise against putting hands or feet directly into a spider’s nest.

On July 6, Rouge was released from the hospital and is on the road to recovery.

She suffers from scars and painful, itchy rashes and has had to wear an eye patch for some time.

What is a brown recluse spider?

The brown recluse spider is one of three venomous spider species found in the United States, typically in southern and central states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Missouri.

The spider, which is typically about 1 to 1.5 inches long, is known for the dark brown, violin-shaped markings on its body.

Its long legs have a lighter brown color.

The spider’s bite is strong and dangerous and can cause illness or even death in humans.

They usually live in dark and sheltered areas, such as under a porch or a woodpile.

Medical experts recommend wearing protective clothing when traveling through these areas to avoid being bitten.

Source: Mount Sinai

“My eye is what really worries me,” Rouge told WANF.

“My eye is… I’m in a lot of pain. I just don’t know what’s going to happen to my eye.”

She told the outlet that she also suffers from a non-cancerous lymphoma/tumor on her upper lip that was caused by a car accident and was unrelated to the bite.

Despite the pain, she said she felt happy.

“Some people aren’t as lucky as me,” Rouge said.

As of Friday, the GoFundMe campaign to cover her medical expenses had raised more than $5,800.

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