A TEENAGER is in recovery after being bitten by a venomous spider while watching a film at a cinema popular with the Turkish-speaking communities.
Stephanie Georgio said she was bitten by a false widow spider at the Enfield Cineworld in Southbury Road, where Turkish films are often shown.
She said it happened while she was on a date, moments after she sat down to watch the advertisements. She was there to see Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.
She told the Enfield Independent: “I sat down and went to put my drink in the cup holder but must have left it there for a bit too long. I felt this thing like an electric shock, and I scratched my right hand but didn’t think about it and carried on watching the film.
“I started feeling really hot, but I thought it was just the temperature in the cinema, and my hand was itching.
“Then when we left I didn’t feel right. I was really dizzy and I snapped at my date.”
Miss Georgio was given antibiotics by her GP, but despite these her condition continued to deteriorate. She was taken with a raised heartbeat and fever to Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, where she had two operations to remove tissue from her hand. It is understood she will be permanently scarred.
A spokesman for Cineworld told the paper: “Cineworld is investigating an incident at its Enfield cinema where it has been alleged that a customer was bitten by a spider.
“Customer safety is our absolute priority and we instructed a specialist pest control team to carry out an immediate inspection of the whole premises. Pest control teams carry out regular checks at all of our cinemas on an ongoing basis.”
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
cineworld-enfield.jpg The Cineworld in Enfield where the spider is alleged to have bitted Miss Georgio
spider.jpg A false widow spider
