When Sydney mother, Kristal Joseph, was bitten on the foot by a spider, she thought it was harmless.
But just 12 weeks later, the 29-year-old would undergo life-saving surgery and lose half her leg.
“We didn’t know how she was going to cope without a leg,” Kristal’s husband Callum Joseph told 7NEWS.com.au.
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“But it was either her life or her leg.”
When Kristal was bitten by a white-tailed spider back in February, it set off a chain reaction of infections.
The bite quickly turned into a small ulcer on her foot, which then escalated into a “nasty infection” which eventually “ran rampant”.
In the weeks that followed, Kristal underwent 10 debridement surgeries, each time cutting back more and more of her foot.
While in intensive care, she suffered stage five kidney failure as the infection spread to her tendons, ligaments and bone.
Kristal was then left with no other option.
On May 18, doctors performed a leg amputation, ultimately saving her life.
“Now I’m just trying to cope with life without the leg,” Kristal told 7NEWS.com.au.
Kristal added she has begun experiencing phantom pains, something she finds “very surreal and hard to explain”.
“How can my toes or foot feel cramped?” she said.
“But I can’t get rid of it for a few painful minutes.”
Now, Kristal says she is faced with a recovery she has been told will be “slow and steady”.
“But I am determined more than ever to actually get my prosthetics and learn how to walk again, hopefully get back to work again and live my life how it was intended,” she said.
“My kids are looking forward to me having a prosthetic leg, they think I’m some kind of bionic super woman.
“The whole family has really come together and supported us in every way they can, and I am really grateful for everything they have done.”
Callum added they are now also faced with the task of having to find another home, as their current house in Jordan Springs in Sydney’s west is a double storey.
However, despite all this, the couple are trying to take each day as it comes.
“She still feels overwhelmed with everything that is going on,” Callum said.
“But the healing is going well … we are having multiple hospital visits a week still, and it will be like that for a while.”
A Go Fund Me page has been set up by a relative to help raise funds for the family during this difficult chapter.
“Despite these significant health challenges, Kristal never, ever complains,” the page reads.
“She faces these challenges with courage and composure. She is always thinking of others. She never likes to draw attention to herself, make a fuss or ask for help.”