A barmaid was left with third-degree burns and nasty painful blisters after brushing past “Britain’s most dangerous plant”.
Chloe Douglas isn’t sure where or when she could have encountered the dreaded giant hogweed, but she woke up one morning with a red rash on her hands and neck, which grew into huge blisters as the day wore on. When she went to the urgent care centre, the medics revealed giant hogweed was the possible cause of her injuries.
Chloe, from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, said: “After work, I went on the sunbed for five minutes, which I’m guessing was the exposure it needed to turn into burns. That evening I was fine, however I woke up the next day and my hands and neck were covered in red rashes.
“I laughed it off and assumed I was unlucky and had just got prickly heat off the sunbed. But as the day went on my right hand started to burn and eventually blister into these spots – I’d say the size of grapes.”
Chloe's blisters (Credit: Chloe Douglas/Pen News)
It started as a rash (Credit: Chloe Douglas/Pen News)Giant hogweed sap stops the skin protecting itself against the sun, leading to gruesome burns when exposed to daylight. And because it often causes no immediate pain, its victims can continue to burn in the sun heedless of any problem. What's more, the plant can spread its sap with only a moment’s exposure.
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Medics popped Chloe’s blisters and dressed her wounds, but three weeks later, she’s still paying the price. She said: “They disclosed that they were third-degree burns. I have scarring that has lasted three weeks and doesn’t show any signs of clearing up.
“The recovery was extremely painful, my hand constantly ached and had to be bandaged due to the open wound where they had popped the blisters. I had to take a few days off just from being genuinely unwell after getting it treated; it took me well over a week-and-a-half to get myself back to normal. However my hands are still scarred and I’m guessing will be for the foreseeable now.”
She needed the blisters treating (Credit: Chloe Douglas/Pen News)Miss Douglas, 20, is now urging others to steer well clear. She said: “Familiarise yourself with what the plant looks like to make sure if you do see it, you avoid it at all costs. Make sure you’re constantly washing your hands and wearing suncream.”
The giant hogweed is native to the Caucasus, but was introduced to Britain as an ornamental plant in 1817, and its spread has now got out of control. It was called “without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous plant in Britain” by Mike Duddy, of the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust in 2015.
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