Woman covered in agonising burns after wholesome day picking blackberries
A woman has been left with excruciating blisters the length of her arm after coming into contact with the most notorious plant in the UK.
Sue Harris suffered horrific burns after touching giant hogweed while she spent an afternoon picking blackberries.
She has described the extreme pain she has been left in and told how her doctor has said she will have to cover her arm when in the sun for the next four months, and should increase her sun protection for the next five years to avoid the blisters and rash returning.
Sue, 55, was picking blackberries in Mayals, Swansea, when she touched Hogweed, which can impact people for years after touching it.
A common plant, scientifically known as Heracleum sphondylium, it can be found along hedgerows, roadside verges and rough grassland.
The plants sap, stems, leaves and fruits are toxic. The sap of the plant can cause burns on the skin which can be very thick and painful. The sap makes the skin extra sensitive to the sunlight and allows the skin to burn in the sunlight, causing extreme blisters.
This blistering can occur over and over for months, or years after first contact.
Two hours after Sue arrived home, she noticed a small rash on her arm. Overnight it got worse, spreading up her arm, onto her back and causing extreme pain.
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Wales Online reports she went to her local pharmacy and was given medication for the rash but was left in 'agony'.
She consulted her GP who advised her that if she had eaten the blackberries, her airways could have closed as the plant can cause the equivalent of a third degree burn.
Two weeks later, her rash remains painful and it could last for another six months. She said: 'Even now, my arm is burning, literally burning. I didn't feel anything at the time, I must have just brushed past it.
'I went to my doctor a week later because I've been in and I honestly mean it, I've been in agony with it.
'I just want people to know about it because I never knew it was toxic and I wouldn't want anyone else to go through this.'
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