This sounds made up—but it’s not. A woman in California was poisoned through her eyeball after her husband smashed a black widow spider and a chunk of its venom-soaked body hit her in the face. Add that to your list of fears you didn’t know you needed.Within minutes, her left eye ballooned shut. Then came the nausea. Then the full-body cramps. Her arms, legs, even her neck started spasming. Doctors eventually traced it all back to one absurd cause: venom from the spider had soaked into her eye’s thin membrane and entered her bloodstream. No bite. Just splash damage.According to a case study published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the 37-year-old woman had been cleaning out a shed with her husband when they spotted a large black spider. He smashed it with a hammer, and the resulting bug explosion launched a piece of the spider straight into her eye. She told doctors the pain hit instantly, followed by swelling, then full-body symptoms that unfolded like some kind of arachnid-induced possession.Black Widow Venom Launched Into Woman’s Eye After Spider SmashThe official diagnosis was accidental envenomation via ocular absorption—meaning her eye tissue absorbed enough of the black widow’s venom to trigger a systemic reaction. The likely culprit was Latrodectus hesperus, or the western black widow, which is native to California and recognizable by its glossy black body and red hourglass mark.The venom’s most infamous ingredient, alpha-latrotoxin, targets the nervous system and can wreak absolute havoc even in small doses. The woman developed burning eyelids, abdominal pain, and tingling in her limbs. Eventually, she was treated with medications to counteract the symptoms and made a full recovery.Black widow bites rarely lead to death. A 2023 review of over 23,000 cases found that only 1.4% involved serious, life-threatening symptoms. But most people don’t end up absorbing venom through the literal window to their brain. That’s a whole new category of nightmare.The case is also a reminder that spider encounters don’t always follow the rules. You don’t need a fang mark for venom to make it into your body. Sometimes all it takes is one unlucky squish at the wrong time.So yeah, maybe don’t go full sledgehammer on your next eight-legged visitor—especially indoors. And definitely don’t stand too close when you do.The post Black Widow Spider Sent Woman to the Hospital—Without Biting Her. Here’s How. appeared first on VICE.