Doctors have been forced to amputate the lower leg of a local mother who was bitten by a spider.
Kristal Joseph was bitten by the white-tailed spider in February but after infections did not respond to treatment, doctors amputated her left leg below the knee at Nepean Hospital.
Joseph’s husband Callum says the family is struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
“It’s totally life-changing,” he told The Daily Mail.
“It’s taken a huge emotional, mental and physical toll on Kristal. The whole process has been such an ordeal for her and our family.”
The couple, from Jordan Springs, have three children together.
More than $20,000 has been raised for the family through a GoFundMe appeal designed to help the family through this period.
Since the bite in February, Joseph has endured almost a dozen surgeries, suffered kidney failure and becoming seriously ill.
The 29-year-old is also a Type 1 diabetic, first diagnosed when she was two.
