As an Australian - many people believe I'm blasé about seeing deadly animals and insects. But I can assure you I most certainly am not.
So when I heard about Matthew Mitchell's story I couldn't help but have shivers running down my spine.
Matt was helping his dad in the backyard of their home in New South Wales on Monday night. But as the 10-year-old reached into his shoe he let out a scream after a funnel-web spider bit him.
Matt told the Daily Telegraph: "It sort of clawed onto me and all the legs and everything crawled around my finger and I couldn't get it off."
Credit: Channel 7
Advert
His dad David saw the deadly spider and knew he needed to get medical help immediately, as the venom from the spider can kill a human within 15 minutes.
The family ended up at an after-hours chemist in Killarney Vale where staff ripped off the boy's t-shirt and used it as a compression bandage.
Matt was then rushed to Gosford Hospital before his health rapidly declined.
Credit: Channel 7
Advert
His mum, Shellie, said: "By the time we got to the hospital, the poison had definitely kicked in."
He started frothing at the mouth, he was sweating and his eyes were dilated.
Doctors gave the boy a whopping 12 vials of anti-venom, which is the most anyone has ever been given in Australia since it was created in 1981.
Shellie posted on Facebook: "I still can't believe how lucky we are to have him survive this horrific episode.
"I owe huge thanks and so much more to the amazing paramedics that came to our rescue and to all the doctors at the hospital that gave my son a second chance at life and fixed him up."
Now rest assured everyone, Matt's smart thinking family captured the massive arachnid and handed it over to the Australian Reptile Park - where it will be milked for anti-venom.
Advert
He's a bloody lucky kid.
Australia is the land of massive spiders
These pictures were taken last October at an animal rescue farm in Queensland's Brisbane Valley.
According to Daily Mail, the pictures have recently gone viral again and it's not hard to see why.
Look...
Credit: Barnyard Betty's Rescue
Advert
KILL IT. KILL IT WITH FIRE.
One person commented: "100% approve of and respect what you're doing here, but please, for the love of God keep that thing and all of its family and friends OVER THERE and the heck away from me." Another wrote: "Why In HOLY HELL would you touch this horrible fucking demon spawn!?!"
But Australia might have some competition on it's hands after a video surfaced from the Dominican Republic showing an absolute stunner of a spider.
Take a look here:
Credit: Newsflare
Advert
British tourists at Cruce De Rio Verde filmed the video. You can hear one woman scream 'oh my God' followed by a profanity and perhaps 'don't move'.
Apparently this is a common thing in the Dominican Republic, so much so that there's a thread on TripAdvisor dedicated to it.
It's kicked off with this: "I've seen pictures of some giant spiders from Punta Cana [a municipality in the Dominican Republic]. Should I be at all concerned when my one-year-old is playing? What kind of spiders are they? They almost look like tarantulas but I assume that it is not. Are these spiders poisonous?"
This brought a plethora of responses.
"I have also seen these spiders posted on candid travellers' photos of STB," one person wrote. "I assume that they are tarantulas, as that is what they are being called. How dangerous are they?"
Another chirped in: "There is a native tarantula-like spider in the DR called a 'cacata', but it is quite timid and tends to stay hidden from human eyes unless you start poking around rotting tree stumps or overturning rocks. They are not poisonous but the bite can be painful."
To be honest, I don't care if they aren't venomous - they can die in the fiery depths of hell.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 7 Sydney