A 10-year-old Montana schoolboy and talented footballer has died two weeks after being bitten on the leg by a brown recluse spider.
Keith Pierce, a student at Three Forks District School, was taken to Bozeman Deconess Hospital on September 30 after his leg started swelling up.
After ruling out cancer, doctors sent him home, but he was rushed to St Vincent Hospital in Billings last Friday when his pain and symptoms worsened.
Two days later, he underwent emergency surgery, but never woke up. In the early hours of Monday morning, Keith’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to end resuscitation efforts.
Following the youngster’s tragic death, a forensic examination ‘determined the cause of death as severe sepsis due to complications of a spider bite’, NBC Montana reported.
Severe sepsis, which can lead to septic shock, life-threatening inflammation and organ dysfunction, is caused by bacteria or germs. It causes millions of deaths across the world every year.
In Keith’s case, the condition was caused by the venomous bite of brown recluse spider, the Yellowstone County Coroner told the boy’s mother, Mandy, according to KRTV.
Keith, a fourth-grade student and one of three siblings, was a talented sportsman who played for Three Forks District School’s wrestling and football teams.