How not to kill a spider

When his wife screamed there was a spider in the house, Chris Welding sprang to her defense, nearly killing himself in the process.

The IT engineer chased the spider into their bathroom in Clacton, Essex, England.

Wielding a flammable aerosol can, he sprayed the spider as it cowered behind the toilet pan and then lit a cigarette lighter to see if he had killed it – his curiosity very nearly killed him.

The lighter flame ignited the aerosol gas and caused a massive explosion that knocked Mr Welding off his feet and into the hall – leaving him with severe burns and blowing the  loft door off its hinges.

He suffered flash burns to his head, legs and torso and was rushed by ambulance to hospital after dousing himself in cold water.

He said:

It was about 10.30pm last night. My wife Janine was getting ready for bed and suddenly she let out a scream, She said there was a spider in the bathroom and asked me to get rid of it – neither she or the kids would go in there. The spider had crawled into the recess behind the loo and there was no way I could get to it. Stupid as it is, I grabbed a can of deodorant and a lighter and sprayed it behind the loo. The flame shot out and went round the back of the toilet and came back out at me. It was a bit of a shock. I’ve got two burned fingers and a burned knuckle

A fire brigade spokesman said firemen found no evidence of the spider, dead or alive.

The Essex Fire Service spokesman said:

We’re not entirely sure whether the spider got away or not but there was no sign of it at the scene