A Kansas mother of four is fighting for her life after a terrifying camping trip allegedly left her covered in spider bites and battling a cascade of potentially fatal medical complications.
Britagne Miller of Goddard said she felt approximately 15 spiders crawl up her legs and into her shirt while sitting beside a campfire at Cheney State Park on May 28.
“I’m terrified of spiders,” Miller told Kansas television station KAKE. “I had spider bites on both sides of my leg.”
Within days, Miller developed severe pain in her right leg that she described as feeling like she was being stabbed.
She was admitted to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita on June 4, according to a GoFundMe established by her husband, Jake Miller.
“A giant hematoma formed on her right calf from the bite,” the fundraiser stated. “The pain was excruciating, and she required surgery to remove large blood clots and drain the area.”
Her condition was especially dangerous because she was already living with two rare blood disorders and end-stage liver failure. Those conditions increased the risk that she could bleed to death during surgery.
“Over the following weeks she was often incoherent as her condition worsened,” the family wrote.
Doctors reportedly told the family that Miller might have only days or weeks to live and recommended hospice care after she had spent approximately two weeks in the hospital.
But Miller refused to stop fighting.
“She told the doctors she would fight to live as long as she could for her family, and she insisted they do everything possible to save her,” the fundraiser said.
Miller spent 10 days in the medical intensive care unit before being transferred to a cardiac ICU and eventually a regular hospital floor.
Doctors treated her with blood transfusions, plasma, platelets, cryoprecipitate, antibiotics and potassium.
Just as Miller appeared to be improving, another crisis struck. She developed an infection in her bloodstream and a bacterial staph infection.
The infection reportedly caused tissue around her stitches to die, forcing doctors to perform two bedside procedures to remove the dead skin. She was also placed on additional antibiotics.
Miller now needs a liver transplant, but doctors have warned that it could take several months before she is stable enough to undergo the operation.
Her husband said he has watched her endure unimaginable suffering throughout the ordeal.
“I have watched her endure more pain than I ever thought a person could survive,” Jake wrote. “Somehow, she still finds the strength to fight.”
Jake has remained at his wife’s side while also caring for their three sons and one daughter, who are ages 9, 12, 14 and 15.
The family’s medical emergency has also created a financial crisis. Jake said he lost his job because he was unable to maintain his required work schedule while caring for his wife and children.
“There was never a question about where I needed to be, but losing my income and insurance has put us in a tough spot financially,” he wrote.
Doctors have not confirmed what type of spider may have bitten Miller. However, they reportedly believe a brown recluse could have been responsible.
Brown recluse spiders are small, with a leg span roughly the size of a quarter. They are one of two venomous spider species native to Kansas.
Reactions to their bites can range from minor irritation to severe tissue damage and dangerous infections.
Despite being told in June that she might have only days to live, Miller continues to defy the grim predictions as she battles to recover and return home to her family.