FORT MYERS, Fla. — A man born and raised in Fort Myers just had two of his toes amputated after he was bitten several times by a venomous spider. 

Hamilton Diaz, 58, said over the course of several months, he was bitten at least five times by a brown recluse spider. 

“They bit me on the top of the toes. Right there, you can see the bite,” he said pointing to his left foot. 

The bites were so bad, doctors were left with no choice but to cut off two of his toes. 

“No blood’s going, these two need to be amputated,” Diaz recalls the doctor telling him. 

He went to the hospital in Clearwater last week after his condition took a turn for the worst. 

Photos shared by Diaz are so graphic that they need to be blurred. However, he describes what they looked like to ABC7’s Gage Goulding from his hospital bed. 

“This was all blistered. All completely around,” Diaz said. “And it turned gray and it looked like a raisin. I sent you pictures of my foot, how it’s mummified.” 

Mummified, his toes were entirely black and dead. It’s what led doctors to amputate both the middle and fourth toe on his left foot on Monday. 

All of this starts with a tiny bite from a pint-sized spider. 

This wasn’t just any spider, but a venomous brown recluse. In Southwest Florida, they’re rare, but as a truck driver, Diaz somehow managed to find one. 

“I drive an 18-wheeler and I go all 48 states.” 

Along his journey, the spider likely weaseled its way into his truck, beginning to torment him back in December. 

Gage: “How many times total do you think you got bit by this spider?” 

Hamilton: “Probably about four or five times.”  

Gage: “Was it hard to go to bed knowing that you’re sharing your truck cab with this poisonous spider?”

Hamilton: “Yeah, it was like almost sleeping with one eye open.”

Gage: “And you’ve been playing a game of almost cat and mouse with the spider for almost months?” 

Hamilton: “But I was also told that maybe the spider laid eggs.” 

As he battled the bites on his feet and hands from what could be an entire family of insects, the months kept passing and his condition kept getting worse. 

Doctors say it was so severe he has gangrene. 

“That is a very severe case,” said Dr. Joyce Fassbender, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University. “They have what’s called a hemotoxin. Which can cause necrosis or decay of tissue.” 

Dr. Fassbender said it’s not likely a brown recluse spider could kill you, but it can cause catastrophic damage, like in Diaz’s case. 

“You can actually get an antivenom, but you have to get it within 24 hours,” Fassbender said.

After losing two toes, Diaz passes along some advice to anyone who may find themselves bitten by a bug. 

“Doesn’t matter what type of spider it is, go get it checked,” he said. 

Diaz has another surgery to undergo before he’s truly in the clear. However, that won’t dampen his mood and certainly not his humor. 

“You know how you have lactose intolerant? I’m going to be lack-toe intolerant,” he said. 

If you would like to support Hamilton on his road to recovery, you can visit his GoFundMe here.