When Lance Corporal Sammy OGorman learned he was being sent to fight in Iraq, he immediately thought of the dangers of deadly roadside bombs.
But it was not an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by insurgents that nearly cost the 28-year-old his life.
L/Cpl OGorman spent three months in intensive care and underwent 17 operations after being bitten on the thigh by a giant spider.
Last night, he told how he was on patrol in western Basra with the Highlanders, 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, when the camel spider struck.
The father of two, from Inverness, said: When I went to Iraq, the biggest threat was the IED. If you stepped on one of those, you felt you were going to lose a foot, a leg or your life.
You just did not have time to worry about spiders. I didnt see the spider or feel the bite. It left two holes in the top of my thigh.
I got back to our forward operating base after the patrol and noticed the top of my thigh was sore and inflamed.The medic couldnt do anything for me and it was two weeks before a doctor took a look at it.
She cut the inflamed area open and drained fluid but none of us knew what the real problem was.
The spider, which can grow to eight inches and run at 10mph, is not venomous but contains potentially lethal bacteria from its desert diet of decaying animal flesh.
Unaware of the danger he was in, L/Cpl OGorman went on leave before returning to his base in Fallingbostel, Germany.
Potentially lethal: A camel spider is not venomous but can kill as it contains potentially fatal bacteria
By then, his blood had become infected and he was hours away from death. He reported to the medical centre where the doctor, alarmed by his condition, sent him to hospital for immediate treatment.
He said: I went into intensive care. They thought I had cancer. The infection was about a month old at this stage and was threatening to get a grip on my heart.
They cut away infected muscle in my leg. I had 17 operations in total and Ive got a divot in my left thigh as a result.
At one point, they told my wife Clare I might not make it through the night.Later, a British military surgeon told me I was lucky to have kept my leg.
L/Cpl OGorman, whose daughters are four and six, has now transferred to the Black Watch because its HQ is nearer his Highland home.
It has taken him three years to battle back to 70 per cent fitness after being bitten by the spider in 2009.
He now gives training talks to help soldiers sent to Afghanistan to look out for spiders and scorpions.