Dog walker’s face swells after she accidentally brushed against a toxic plant

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A dog walker’s face swelled to twice the size and she was covered in enormous boils after she accidently brushed against a toxic plant.

Christina Sabine, 26, woke up to find her skin blistered “like it had been doused with acid”.

The amateur artist said she was in so much she couldn’t walk and was rushed to hospital for treatment.

Doctors said she most likely brushed against toxic plant giant hogweed while out walking her two dogs, Mocha and Latte.

And three months on, she said she’s still in agony and is barely able to walk or use her hands.

Christina, from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, said: “I woke up and saw myself in the mirror.

“My face had swollen and all my skin had blistered and I looked like I was the victim of an acid attack.

“My whole body was in too much pain to even move - I even questioned calling 999 because I thought it might be life-threatening.

“At this point I had no idea why, and when someone said it looked like it was caused by giant hogweed, I had no idea what they were on about.

“When I did some research, it made total sense because I walk past the plants loads when I walk my dogs, but I never knew they were poisonous.

“Now months on, I’m still feeling the impacts.

“I’m in pain every day and I can’t use my hand properly because it’s still too painful.

“I want to make people aware because it can be so dangerous - and it could have been so much worse if it had been a child instead of me.”

Christina was on a public pathway along the river Avon into Stratford town centre when she encountered the giant hogweed.

But she had no idea until she woke up the following morning, 24 July, with swelling, blistering and boils on her hands, back, fingers, neck, legs.

She said: “I couldn’t walk for the pain - everything was red, swollen and blistered.

“There were big orange balls of pus on my hands and my skin was red - I looked like I’d dipped my hand in acid.”

She went to Warwick Hospital and was transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, for treatment.

Months on, Christina still has back pain and struggles to move her hand - a curse for an amateur artist who made her money selling her art on sites such as Etsy.

Now, she wants to warn others of the dangers of a regular-looking plant - which has a tall green stalk with lots of tiny white flowers at the top - and wonders what could have happened if a child had come into contact with it.

She said: “It shouldn’t be allowed to grow in public spaces - and if it does, people should see it and know to stay away.”

She has since lodged a complaint with Stratford District Council.

The council declined to comment while investigations are ongoing.

SWNS