A three-year-old girl died after a scorpion crawled into her bed and stung her as she slept.
Brazilian Maria Fernanda Brito da Silva suffered cardiac arrest after the arachnid entered under her clothes and repeatedly stung her.
She was taken to the Hospital Regional de Mato Grosso do Sul in Campo Grande, Brazil, where she was treated with antivenom antibody therapy.
Little Maria died in an intensive care unit on October 1 – six days after she was stung.
Vanessa Ramirez da Silva, Maria’s mom, said she was left horrified when she found the scorpion attacking her daughter.
According to a translated Primeira Pagina report, the 27-year-old said: “The image will stay in my head forever.
“She sat on the bed, turned around, and I saw the scorpion stuck to her back. It wasn’t a small scorpion, it was a big scorpion.
“I hit her and she, even though she was in pain, raised her little finger and showed that the scorpion ended up on my shirt.
“I hit my hand, threw it on the ground, and killed it.”
After killing the scorpion, Ramirez da Silva went outside and screamed for help as Maria started vomiting.
Her grandmother, Cleide Cristina Ramirez, said she feels “infinite pain”.
Mrs Ramirez said: “My daughter is a fighter, a single mother, she gives her life for her children.”
More than 3,000 scorpion-related cases have been reported this year in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, according to health department data.
Brazil’s yellow scorpion, the deadly Tityus serrulatus, is said to be the most dangerous scorpion in South America.
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