Rookie Golfer Gets Bitten By Black Widow On Fourth Hole, Digs Out Venom With Her Tee, Finishes Round

Daniela Holmqvist, a Swedish rookie on the Ladies European Tour and former Cal golfer, was on the fourth hole in a pre-qualifier for the Women's Australian Open in Yarralumla, Australia, yesterday when she felt a sharp pain in her ankle. She looked down, she told Golf Digest later—after not dying by virtue of being a badass—and "saw a large, furry, black creature with a red spot on its back just above her sock line."

Holmqvist, 24, reportedly "swatted" the spider away and then nearly fell over in pain, as she'd just been bitten by a black widow spider. "I had just turned and felt it was very painful, not like being stung by a wasp," she told Svensk Golf, "rather like being stabbed by a knife." So then she decided to stab herself in the leg with a tee:

As Holmqvist's leg started to swell and the pain became intense, she made the quick decision to take matters into her own hands (she'd just been informed that a Black Widow bite can kill a child in as little as 30 minutes). She pulled a tee out of her pocket ("it was the only thing I had handy," she told Svensk Golf) and used it to cut open the wound so she could squeeze out the venom and keep it from spreading inside her body.

"A clear fluid came out," she said. "It wasn't the prettiest thing I've ever done, but I had to get as much of it out of me as possible."

Holmqvist then finished the round with a 74 (not enough to qualify, unfortunately) while medics looked on. She said afterward that she does not recommend getting bitten by a black widow.

[H/T Devil Ball Golf/ Golf Digest, photo via LET]