Critter a long way from home BY ANNA MARIE D'ANGELO Rews Reporter SPIDERS ARE supposed to just give you the creeps. One spider gave West Vancouver’s Donna Hawrelko something more. It poisoned her. “It was really scary.” said a recuperating Hawrelko fast week. The manager of a North Vancouver group home for emotionally dis- turbed teenagers believes she was bitten by the brown recluse spider (Loxoscetes reclusa) on Good Friday. The imported creature is associated with deaths in the United States. : Hawrelko is not in danger of being caught in the big spi- | L7 ; “ der web in the sky. but she aid hitching rides on bananas suffer alarming medical prob- lenis because of the bite. Hawrelko first noticed a . . redness around a skin mark on- from Latin American her ankle. . ra A doctor diagnosed the countries. problem as a probable spider bite. Hawrelko's foot was com- pletely swollen by the next week. She experienced extreme burning and itching. Her only relief from pain came when she packed her foot in ice. Intervenous antibiotics started flowing into her body at Lions Gate Hospital to combat an infection from the bite. It took several days before all the swelling was gone. North Shore Health’s environmental control officer Bert Engelmann said that a non-spider expert would have a hard time telling the difference between the brown recluse and your garden variety creepy crawly. “Quite a few spiders do bite,” said Engelmann. The poisonous spider arrived in Canada by hitching rides on bananas and - shoes coming in from Latin American countries. Englemann said once here, the poisonous brown recluse has no trouble living in the Lower Mainland. North Shore Health has had no reports of bites from brown recluse spi- ders this year. A few peopie have been reported bitten in recent years. Sechelt resident Bertie Kerekes is another victim of the brown recluse. She is just starting to regain some energy after being devastated by a spi- der bite last September. : Like Hawrelko, Kerekes was hit near the ankle. The quarter-size sore was “green around the edges.” Kerekes experi- enced the usual effects of a brown recluse spider bite. Her red skin broke oe The poisonous spider arrived in Canada by and shoes coming in _ Carson student joins in youth exchange BY LAYNE CHRISTENSEN Community Reporter FOR THE average secondary-school student, post-graduation means college, work or a trip to Europe. But Bree Weilwood has other plans. The Grade 12 student at Carson Graham is headed for india. She is one of 30 B.C. and Yukon young people who will participate in an exchange sponsored by Canada World Youth. Canada World Youth is a non- profit organization that receives funding from the — Canadian International Development Agency Sunday, April 21, 1996 — North Shore News ~ 3 NEWS photo Terry Peters THE ANKLE of West Vancouver's Donna Hawrelko still hurts after 2 poisonous spider bit her near her home earlier this month, open around the bite. The flesh around the bite died. resulting in a gan- grenous or a necrotic sore. “It was so sore, I couldn’t sleep.” said Kerekes. Kerekes went to her doctor in Vancouver and got intervenous antibiotics. in hospital, the sore was bathed and medicated regularly. It took 24 months before the spider bite began to heal, She stil! has pain in the bite area. Both spider victims have changed their thinking about seemingly harm- less spiders. “When they come into my house now, they are dead. Now they go,” said Kerekes. Said Hawrelko, “I'm certainly much more aware of spiders. I certainly avoid them more.” NEWS photo Mike Wakefleld BREE WELLWOOD, a Grade 12 student at Carson Graham, will spend three monihs in India as an exchange participant with Canada World Youth. Her dress, similar to what she will be required to wear “24 hours a day, even when we are working,” was picked up during a visit to Malaysia last December. (CIDA). ‘The group operates youth exchanges between Canada and developing countries in Asia. Africa, Litin America and the Caribbean, This is the 25th year of the program. The 18-year-old leaves for her adventure in mid-July, but will not arrive in’ tndia until November. First she must five and work for three to four months in rural Ontario. There she will be paired with her “sister” from India. A group of 14 youths, seven from each country, will then travel to India, where they will again tive and work in the community. “People say that staying in rural Canada is almost more of a shock,” said Wellwood of the cultural differences she expects to find not just abroad but in her own country. Wellwood plays down any worries she may i LR ERNE have about living in a developing country, coping with the language barrier and living conditions, She does. however, admit that the Indian diet poses sume concerns. Wellwood, who is vegeturian, is Urying to acquire a taste for spicy foods. "My dad toves hot foods. so I'm working my way up the scale.” For more information about Canada Workd Youth, phone 732-5113, Lawyer questions doctor From page 4 Azim contradicted testimony of Wight’s mother and girlfriend. The women testified on Wednesday that Azim was not interested in listening to them. They said Azim was worried about being sued by Wight. Azim testified that he tried to include the family “in the process” as much as possible. “If there is interaction behind a patient’s back. it is far more detri- mental,” said Azim. He met with the family and Wight before discharging him. Azim said he wished that Wight would “present himseif™ at the walk- in psychiatric clinic at the hospital and “avail himself” of programs. He said there was a danger that an involuntary psychiatric patient would commit suicide. The last time Azim saw Wight was when the doctor was in the ° nurse’s station and Wight was getting ready to leave the hospital. ‘¥ just grabbed his arm and told him there is no sha:e in not feeling well and needing weatment and even doctors go to see psychiatrists and I hoped he did the same,” said Azim. ft was one of the few times in Azim’s three-hour testimony that the grey-haired psychiatrist altered his slow and calm responses and rushed his sentences. Azim said he had worked as a psychiatrist for 35 years. He was recruited in November 1994 to work at Lions Gate Hospital (LGH) in psychiatric outpatient care. Azim began his psychiatric stud- ies in Egypt. He came to Canada in 1960 and graduated -from McGill University. Azim was working in Edmonton when LGH recruited him. Jamieson grilled Azim on his knowledge of the B.C. Mental Health Act. The psychiatrist said he did not have specific instruction about it, but understood the broad concept of pro- tection under the act. : Under the Mental Health Act, two physicians may certify a person for involuntary mental treatment. The doctors must believe the person will. harm himself or others. Under the Mental Health Act a person who neglects basic food -- needs may be deemed as someone.” who is harming himself. Nurses’ . notes revealed ‘that Wight was | unkempt, frai! and malnourished. - An inquest juror asked Azim if he had actually made a diagnasis before. * discharging Wight. He said that he was jeaning towards a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive personality, index & Bright Lights............12. Business............... woe 13 @ Celebrations...........25 f@ Crossword. & Fashion........................ 13 @ Horoscope........... oer 2: @ Hot Mouse ® Mailbox... 8 HN. Shore Alert... &@ Wright...