Man loses legs after he's bitten by spider
 |
|
||||||||||
ARLINGTON - What happened to Gerardo Chavez after he went to bed on New Year's Eve became a nightmare.
Chavez, a 19-year-old known as "J.D.," apparently was bitten by a spider as he slept, then fought weeks of infection. As a result, both of his legs were amputated above the knee, and he's now in a care facility.
"Everything happened in less than 10 days," said his stepfather, Juan Ibarra. "Everything went so quick."
Chavez grew up in the Mount Vernon area, said his mother, Anita Ibarra. He got his General Educational Development certificate about two years ago and since then has worked at occasional jobs.
"Nothing solid," said Chavez. Mostly, he said, he liked inline skating and riding his BMX-style bike through the area.
About a month before Christmas, Chavez moved into an old house in Burlington with his brother-in-law. The house was being remodeled, and the family speculates that a spider may have come into the house through holes cut for the insulation.
Chavez also had a cold before Christmas, but by Jan. 4 he was feeling very sick. He was hospitalized and later taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Doctors there thought he had likely been bitten by a spider, perhaps a brown recluse or a hobo. The subsequent infection led to open heart surgery and eventual amputation of his legs to save his life.
"Between the cold and the spider bite, his immunity was really down," said his mother.
Brown recluse spiders aren't common to this area, but hobos are, and experts say doctors can easily confuse a hobo's bite with that of the brown recluse. While spiders don't usually bite humans, they can if trapped in clothing or bedding. And a hobo-spider bite can make victims ill for days.
Chavez expects he might be able to leave the Regency Care Center in Arlington in about two weeks and probably will move back with his parents.
Meanwhile, Chavez has no health insurance and faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. His stepfather, Ibarra, was laid off from his construction job about two months ago and has been unable to find work.
Contributions to help the family may be made at any Key Bank or any Bank of America branch, at the Conway Store in Conway, Skagit County, or by writing to Chavez at the Regency Care Center, Box 248 Arlington, WA 98223.
Peyton Whitely's phone message number is 206-464-2259. His e-mail is pwhitely@seattletimes.com.