ALBERTVILLE, Alabama - Immediately after being bitten by a brown recluse spider on the shoulder blade, 5-year-old Branson Carlisle complained but didn't seem too bothered, running around playing, eating a breakfast of pancakes and sausage.

"He ate his breakfast and was feeling fine," said his mother Jessica Carlisle, 23.

Branson Riley Carlisle photo WHNT News 19 |

But over the course of the day on Sunday, at three medical facilities, something changed terribly.

About 14 hours after the bite, at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, Branson died.

In Alabama, there had been no deaths recorded by spider bites of any kind in the past five years, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health Center for Health Statistics.

For Branson, his descent into death began Sunday at 9:15 a.m., his mom remembers.

"He said something had stung him," Jessica said. "It was a brand new pajama top and this spider was in his shirt. I saw a welt on his back."

Jessica said she herself had been bitten by a brown recluse several years ago and knew it was important to get quick medical treatment even if he seemed fine.

They saved the spider and brought it with them as they went to a walk-in clinic.

Here's the brown recluse that bit Branson Carlisle, 5.

Branson began running a slight fever, 99 or 100, Jessica said, and medical personnel at the clinic were concerned that the spider's venom might be "going systemic," a rare and more dangerous outcome of a brown recluse bite. The ill effects of such bites usually remain localized, eroding skin and tissue at the site of the bite over the course of days.

They were referred to Marshall Medical Centers South in Boaz. This was about 10:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m., Jessica recalls.

"They took it very seriously [at Marshall]," Jessica said. "They started him on antibiotics, steroids and Tylenol. His vitals were all normal. He was laughing and playing and being a 5-year-old boy."

She said the spider bite site on his back appeared as if he had been struck by a baseball. There were dark black, blue and red marks at the bite site and "it was all knotted up under the skin."

Jessica said the doctor at Marshall Medical wanted to get him to the nearest hospital that had specialists. He was taken by ambulance to Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children.

"The doctor said he was going to send him to Children's of Huntsville or Birmingham, whichever one was quicker," she recalled. "But he didn't seem to think it was going to get worse. It was just in case anything happened, he would have the best care."

At Huntsville, his head and stomach started hurting. They put him on oxygen, Jessica said. Branson was taken to the intensive care unit.

"He was talking in the elevator on the way to ICU, arguing with the doctor. The doctor wanted him to open his mouth and he said, 'No, I don't want to.' Just being a 5-year-old."

As Jessica waited outside ICU, she soon heard loud voices. They were yelling for O-negative blood, she said.

"Doors started flying open and people started coming running from everywhere," Jessica said. "I've never seen so many doctors in one room."

"The nurse came out in the hallway and sat down," Jessica said. "They told me his heart had stopped."

It was 11:30 p.m.

Jessica said the medical staff were doing everything they could to make his blood clot. She said she was told his organs were bleeding.

"They shocked him," she said. "I was in the room when they shocked him for the 17th time, and I knew there was nothing else in this world that they could do for him. I told them it was time to stop."

Since 2013, the Regional Poison Control Center, Children's of Alabama has had 89 calls about suspected brown recluse bites. But director Ann Slattery said that in her 32 years on the job, she has not heard of one death from a brown recluse bite.

Jessica shared her story on Thanksgiving.

"I've have five years to be thankful for," she said of her son born May 25, 2009.

"Everybody will tell you how great and wonderful a child he was," she said. "It brings peace to my heart because I know he didn't suffer."

She said he was a compassionate boy who had decided this year he wanted to send toys to children in Africa. "He knew they didn't have what he had," Jessica said.

In his name, Jessica's church is taking donations, toys or financial, to fulfill Branson's dream.

The church is the Free Life Worship Center, 838 Church St., Boaz, AL 35956.

Branson Riley Carlisle was buried Wednesday at Memory Hill Cemetery in Albertville.

He missed seeing his sister by a month. Jessica is pregnant.

"I'm expecting a girl in about four weeks," Jessica said.