The toxic components in the plant called Giant Bunnyweed can be transferred to the skin when it comes into contact with the plant. The effects of this plant, which can act on the skin even with a single touch, are quite painful and heal slowly. 48-year-old Kimberley Walker’s 12-year-old son was taken to hospital when he woke up with burns to his face and hands. At the hospital, it was stated that it was just a stinging nettle bite. After going to the hospital, the burns on the boy’s hand doubled. This revealed that these burns were caused by giant hogweed, not stinging nettle.
BURNS CAN CAUSE SCALE AND Blindness
Kimberley’s son’s skin burns are being treated by a plastic surgeon. Explaining how it all turned out, Kimberley told StokeOnTrentLive that her son came home from school about seven weeks ago with a scar on his hand that looked like it had been burned from the oven. “I asked him what happened, but he didn’t know how he did it. I took my son to the hospital and they said he had a bite. But I didn’t understand how he could burn his hand from the sting. We’ve been treating it since then and he still has a scar on his hand now.” Kimberley said she thought her son’s burns were limited to his hand until he woke up with two burn marks on his cheek last week, when a doctor eventually contacted Kimberley to report that the burns ‘could cause scarring and blindness’.
CAN’T SURE THE BURNS ARE PERMANENT
“Last Tuesday we went to see the plastic surgeon. The doctor thinks that one of the burns will heal and the other is deeper. He dressed the burns and gave us an ointment to apply twice a day. Then last Wednesday I got a call from school saying my son had a rash under his eye. We got up the next morning. And he had another burn just under his eye.” The worried mother added that doctors are still unsure whether her son will be permanently injured from the burns.
“I DID NOT KNOW THAT A PLANT CAN DO SO MUCH DAMAGE”
For now, Kimberley’s son has been told that he needs to cover up his skin when his burns are light-sensitive and can continue to develop over time. I try to create it because nobody seems to know what it is.” she said.