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Paraplegic Man Suffers Spider Bite, Walks Again
CBS13 ^ | 3/12/2009 | Mike Dello Stritto

Posted on 03/13/2009 5:25:56 AM PDT by LibWhacker

He's been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. Now a paraplegic man is walking again. And his doctors call it a miracle. CBS13 went to Manteca to find out how a spider bite helped get him back on his feet.

"I closed my eyes and then I was spinning like a flying saucer," explains David Blancarte.

A motorcycle accident almost killed David 21 years ago. At the time he might have wished he was dead.

"I asked my doctor, "sir what happened?' I can't feel my legs," said David.

Ever since, David's been relying on his wheelchair to get around. Then the spider bite. A Brown Recluse sent him to the hospital, then to rehab for eight months.

"I'm here for a spider bite. I didn't know I would end up walking," says David.

A nurse noticed David's leg spasm and ran a test on him.

"When they zapped my legs, I felt the current, I was like whoa and I yelled," he says.

He felt the current and the rush of a renewed sense of hope.

"She says,'your nerves are alive. They're just asleep," explained David.

Five days later David was walking.

"I was walking on the bar back and forth," he said.

Now David is out of the hospital and on his feet and walking.

David basks in his glory and gives a ray of hope to other hoping to walk again. The 48-year-old former boxer and dancer are taking it in stride, knowing his best days are still ahead.

David's dream is to see his 14-year-old twin daughters grow up and get married so he can walk them down the aisle and have that first dance.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: bite; brown; health; paraplegic; recluse; spider; walks
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1 posted on 03/13/2009 5:25:56 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

My spidey-sense is tingling


2 posted on 03/13/2009 5:27:25 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: LibWhacker

Now he must choose if he will use these new powers for good or for evil.


3 posted on 03/13/2009 5:29:02 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: LibWhacker
"Walks Again"

Yeah.
On walls.
4 posted on 03/13/2009 5:29:58 AM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: dead

LOL!


5 posted on 03/13/2009 5:30:22 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Apparently, the spider injected him with embryonic stem cells. I can think of no other possible cure.


6 posted on 03/13/2009 5:30:23 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (American Revolution II -- overdue)
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To: dead

With great power comes great responsibility.


7 posted on 03/13/2009 5:30:24 AM PDT by fishtank (Until the GOP repents of supporting Bush, people will think they're just "bashing 0bama".)
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To: LibWhacker

so soon? and the bill was just signed yesterday.


8 posted on 03/13/2009 5:30:29 AM PDT by beebuster2000
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To: ClearCase_guy

All because of 000!


9 posted on 03/13/2009 5:31:29 AM PDT by fishtank (Until the GOP repents of supporting Bush, people will think they're just "bashing 0bama".)
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To: LibWhacker

It is hard to tell from this story whether the spider bite had anything to do with his recovery...other than, maybe, the “spasm”.


10 posted on 03/13/2009 5:33:10 AM PDT by Drawsing (The fool shows his annoyance at once. The prudent man overlooks an insult. (Proverbs 12:16))
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To: LibWhacker

11 posted on 03/13/2009 5:35:21 AM PDT by TruthWillWin (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: dead

“Now he must choose if he will use these new powers for good or for evil.”

Billy Ray Valentine did OK


12 posted on 03/13/2009 5:37:14 AM PDT by This_far
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To: LibWhacker
The 48-year-old former boxer and dancer

What the....?????

13 posted on 03/13/2009 5:37:25 AM PDT by concerned about politics ("Get thee behind me, Liberal")
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To: LibWhacker

14 posted on 03/13/2009 5:37:26 AM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: LibWhacker
"Then the spider bite. A Brown Recluse sent him to the hospital, then to rehab for eight months."

Gee, I hate to be a party pooper, but before anybody goes out and has themselves bitten by a potentially deadly spider, you might just want to try the eight months of therapy first.
15 posted on 03/13/2009 5:39:59 AM PDT by shibumi (" ..... then we will fight in the shade.")
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To: Drawsing

IIRC, spider venom is a nerve toxin, meant to paralyze the prey so the spider can eat it at its leisure. So it wouldn’t be completely unlikely that the spider venom had some effect on this man’s nervous system.


16 posted on 03/13/2009 5:42:21 AM PDT by livius
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To: LibWhacker

Is this kind of like the lady who got stung by bees and her arthritis went away?


17 posted on 03/13/2009 5:43:04 AM PDT by auntyfemenist (Porky little amendments.)
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To: concerned about politics

It’s the ancient French martial art of Dance Boxing.

The thirty second rounds following by rhythmic white flag waving.


18 posted on 03/13/2009 5:43:13 AM PDT by shibumi (" ..... then we will fight in the shade.")
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To: LibWhacker

About the only good result I ever heard of out of a Brown Recluse bite.


19 posted on 03/13/2009 5:50:17 AM PDT by valkyry1
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To: shibumi

No s***


20 posted on 03/13/2009 5:51:20 AM PDT by valkyry1
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