Boys let black widow spider bite them to gain Spider-Man-like powers

Three Bolivian boys landed themselves in the hospital after enticing a black widow spider to bite them in hopes of gaining super powers — a la Spider-Man, Telemundo reports.

The boys, ages 12, 10 and 8, had gone into the fields to help goats graze in Chayanta, about 215 miles southeast of La Paz.

While out there, Telemundo reports, the boys came upon a black widow spider.

The spider reminded the boys of the superhero and they decided to see if its sting would give them magical powers, Virgilio Pietro, epidemiology chief of the Bolivian Ministry of Health, said in relating the story Saturday, following his daily covid-19 report.

Pietro said the first symptoms showed up within a few minutes. Their mother took them to a local health center, but when their conditions didn’t improve they were transferred to the hospital in Llallagua.

Telemundo reports the boys were experiencing “muscular pain, sweating, fever and general tremors.”

The next day, Pietro said, the boys were moved to the children’s hospital in La Paz, where they were given a serum against bites. The boys improved and were discharged on May 20.

Pietro said the incident shows how “for children everything is real, movies are real, dreams can be real, and they are the illusion of our lifetime.”

According to National Geographic, black widow spider bites are rare, because they are nonaggressive and “bite only in self-defense, such as when someone accidentally sits on them.”