Joe Day: Yeovil Town goalkeeper hospitalised by spider bite
- Published
Joe Day wore a cap during Yeovil's FA Cup first-round win against Gateshead due to the spider bite
When Yeovil Town goalkeeper Joe Day woke up with a bite on his head, he did not think much of it at first.
He played through the team's league win over Braintree Town but in the 48 hours that followed the bite swelled up so much he had to go to A&E.
Doctors suspected it was a spider bite and Day ended up spending two nights in hospital getting treatment.
Three days later, the Newport County loanee played the full 90 minutes of the Glovers' FA Cup win over Gateshead.
"The most likely cause of the bite, the doctor did reckon it was the reaction they'd expect from a bad false widow bite," Day told BBC Radio Somerset.
Despite Day insisting that false widow spiders are a fairly common sight around his house, he said the experience was "quite shocking".
"I've never reacted to a bite like this in my life," he said.
Joe Day ended up spending two nights in hospital because of the bite
Doctors twice had to drain the bite on the side of his head as it had swelled so big and so quickly, while he was treated with antibiotics from a drip.
By Wednesday he was given the all clear to go home. With Yeovil - who play in the National League South - on a 10-match unbeaten run and with a FA Cup first-round match on the horizon, he was keen to get the all-clear to return to play.
"The run, the momentum we've got, I didn't want to come out of the team and have it affect any of it personally or for the team," Day said.
"It was important to keep that momentum going and to play the game. The club were fantastic, reassuring me they had Chris the GP and all the medical staff at the club [who] were going to look after me."
The club medical staff got him a cap to wear for the match, although it was not something he wanted to make a habit of.
"I didn't enjoy wearing it. I had the big bandage underneath it as well," Day added.
"My right ear was pinned back and because of the swelling my hearing wasn't great in that ear anyway, so with the bandage and the cap on I couldn't hear too well."
Yeovil went on to beat Gateshead and make it through to the second round of the FA Cup and set up a tie with Wrexham, while Day played again three days later in the league win against Torquay all healed and this time without the cap.
"I got through it, luckily by Tuesday against Torquay," he said.
"It was a pretty nasty experience, it was pretty painful the few days that it was really bad."