A healthy high school teenager went into kidney failure and was left unable to speak at times after being bitten by a spider.
Noah Johnson, 16, liked to play baseball and lifted weights three hours a day before he was bitten by the arachnid in June, which left him bedridden for weeks.
The high school junior said he “felt something crawl on him” while working at his outdoor summer job at a fence-building company in Slater, Iowa, last month.
“He said he just jumped,’” his mom Brandy Johnson told PEOPLE.
The next day, the teenager complained to his mom that the bite was painful and within a few days, it had tripled in size.
“What started as a small wound quickly turned serious,” Brandy said. She rushed him to the emergency room after Noah’s infection began to ooze and the teenager had a 103-degree fever. Doctors sent Noah away with antibiotics, but three days later, his fever persisted, and he could no longer walk.
Noah was rushed into emergency surgery to cut out the infected areas at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa. The following morning, he went into kidney failure and was transferred to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.
Doctors put Noah on dialysis and he spent two weeks bedridden in the Pediatric ICU, where he lost 35lbs.
At times, the youngster couldn’t even speak, but on July 16, he felt strong enough to talk to his mom.
“He thought he was dying,” Brandy said. “He said, ‘I’m very scared.’ I told him, ‘There’s nothing to be scared of. You’re going to be okay.’”
Eventually, Noah was strong enough to be taken outside in a wheelchair where he could feel the sun on his face.
In mid-July, Noah’s family breathed a sigh of relief when he was moved out of the ICU after his kidneys started functioning. He is now recovering at home, his grateful mom confirmed on the fundraising platform.
The family have been supported by the community and a group of moms of Noah’s friends launched a GoFundMe page, which has raised gone beyond its target of $15,000.
“After a challenging and emotional few weeks, we are beyond grateful to share that Noah is finally home,” Brandy wrote. “Once his kidneys began working again, everything started to improve. It’s been a long, exhausting 3-week journey, but thanks to your prayers, love, and support, we are finally seeing the light.”
The mom told PEOPLE that the terrifying ordeal has changed her perspective on what really matters.
“When someone you love — especially your child — suddenly becomes gravely ill, everything changes in an instant,” she said. “The world you knew just a moment ago disappears.”
Symptoms associated with spider bites vary from minor to severe. Black widow and brown recluse spiders are some of the venomous spiders found in the U.S. and can pose a threat to outdoor workers.
Deaths from the bites are extremely rare but can occur in severe cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
