‘Sorry for your loss’: Hero boyfriend sacrifices himself to save woman from petrifying Australian spider

Welcome to Australia, where nature is stunning and the wildlife seems to have been designed for a creature feature. We’ve all heard about terrifying wildlife encounters from the land Down Under but this TikTok video cranks up the drama, looking more like a scene from The Blair Witch Project, complete with crying and a terrifying scream.

Maddy Goring (@maddygoring) from Melbourne, Australia, shared a short video taken when she had a scary spider encounter in her home. In it, she’s visibly upset and in tears as she asks her boyfriend who’s out of camera, “Did you get it?” There’s a Huntsman spider in their bedroom, and his heroic partner is out to save the day. “Working on it,” the man of the house replied.

Maddy, still in tears, waits for the problem to be sorted while looking at the camera. Suddenly, her boyfriend lets out a loud, panicked scream, which prompts Maddy to break down in tears. Whether she’s crying about what might have happened to her boyfriend or dreading the fact that she now has to face the Huntsman alone, we can’t quite tell. The TikTok video cuts there. Did the boyfriend make it out alive?

The short clip went viral, with almost 4 million likes and thousands of comments. Those who know what a Huntsman looks like said her reaction is valid, while the clueless ones had to search what it was. “I just gagged after looking up a huntsman spider. Your emotions are valid, my soul would immediately leave my body” one said. Some said Maddy overreacted, but as one commenter pointed out, for someone with arachnophobia, it doesn’t matter if a spider is big or small, safe or not — a spider is a spider and the fear can be crippling.

Others found Maddy’s reaction after her boyfriend’s scream hilarious. “The way you just accepted his fate immediately,” one wrote. Another commented, “The cry after the scream was hilarious. It gave ‘he’s with Jesus now’.” Some jokingly offered their condolences to Maddy, saying, “Sounded like the huntsman got him, sorry for your loss,” while another comment read, “After he screamed, that instant cry right after. She knew that was the end of her man. Girl the spider has both the house and love of your life. My condolences on both.”

As many in the comments to Maddy’s TikTok video said, Huntsman spiders are relatively harmless. However, their appearance is what’s scary if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. The spider’s body measures about an inch on average, while its legs can stretch out to about 5 inches. To add to that, they are hairy, too. What’s interesting about the species is they don’t make spiderwebs. Instead, Huntsman spiders chase and jump on their prey with alarming speed. Not to worry, though, as they only eat insects and lizards. Although Hunstman spiders keep to themselves most times, they can attack when provoked or feel threatened. The bite itself is painful and can result in inflammation and itchiness, but the venom isn’t toxic to humans unless you’re allergic, which is rare. 

In a follow-up TikTok post, Maddy said she had that reaction, as she has a fear of spiders and she accidentally touched it while closing a curtain. As for the duel between the spider and her partner, one made it out alive. The spider “ran closer to him,” hence the scream, but in a moment of pure bravery, the heroic boyfriend vanquished the Huntsman, saving the day.