A person who suffered festering sores after a brush with giant hogweed says he is still in pain six years later.
Astra McCauley, 21, came into contact with the famous plant in her grandmother’s garden when they were still in high school.
One day, Astra and a friend decided to cut down “very tall plants” that blocked the exit from the garden, without knowing how dangerous they were.
It was soon learned that the overgrown plants were giant hogweed, a plant that causes third-degree burns, blisters, and sensitivity to sunlight.
The split decision left the friends feverishly itchy for the next few days, which then turned into years.
Astra McCauley, 21 (pictured), revealed she has been suffering six years after first coming into contact with the dangerous plant.
Giant hogweed is a dangerous invasive plant that can cause severe burns, scarring and hospitalization (file image)
Describing the aftermath of her encounter with the ‘monster plant’, Astra said: ‘The next few days it stung us everywhere. Come and find out that plant was called giant hogweed.
‘It stings like I’ve never felt before. I sat there crying and itching like I was dead in the night. I couldn’t fall asleep because it itched so much.’
Detailing how their wounds would ooze a “yellow-tinged liquid,” Astra explained the extensive process they used to try to control the pain.
“Eventually, I had this whole body-rubbing thing,” they said.
“I would put gauze on and then wrap myself and then put clothes on top of it, which, by the way, was in the summer, so I was sweating like a dog.”
The 21-year-old and his friend suffered agony after cutting down the “really tall plants” in their back garden.
‘I sat there crying and itching like a dead person in the night. I couldn’t sleep because it stung so much,’ they said (file image of giant hogweed)
“So I had to cover my whole body and also to prevent it from biting me while I was sleeping and spreading it anywhere else.”
They added that the process is meticulous because if the sap that infects the skin comes into contact with the sun it could cause third-degree burns.
After two or three weeks, the itching began to subside; However, the trauma caused by the Giant Hogweed was rekindled when Astra was bitten by a mosquito the following year.
“I was bitten by a mosquito and I was scratching it and I saw a yellow liquid coming out, so I was kind of traumatized and immediately panicked,” they explained.
“I covered it after scrubbing it with water, threw the scrub away, covered it with gauze, looked for a wrap, and then went to get more supplies.”
After the unpleasant encounter with the mosquito, the 21-year-old discovered that the consequences of the Giant Hogweed can reappear and persist for years.
“Once you’re infected with Giant Hogweed, it can come back for the rest of your life, just as bad as it was before,” they said.
‘You can also get sunburned more easily, for the rest of your life. And besides, if it gets in your eyes, it will blind you.
The invasive plant, dubbed one of the “UK’s most dangerous plants”, can grow to heights of six feet, leaving victims blistered within 48 hours, hospitalized or even leaving permanent scars.
For Astra, her hogweed burns usually appear around her legs every summer, even six years after coming into contact with the plant.
The young man has learned to live with the symptoms of the dangerous plant and has even developed a more effective routine to prevent the outbreaks from spreading to other parts of his body.
Revealing that they currently have a hogweed burn on their foot, Astra concluded: “So be careful with Giant Hogweed, folks, because that plant is a nightmare.”
It comes shortly after Britain was warned of a record invasion of giant hogweed after mild, wet weather caused the toxic plant to flower earlier than ever, experts have revealed.
Britain faces a “huge year for proliferation” of giant hogweed after identifying the plant’s emergence much earlier than expected.
Two or three weeks after initial contact, Astra’s wounds began to fade; However, they reappeared a year later (file photo of the flowering plant)
Another teenager (not Astra) was left with a blister the size of an orange and had to struggle to get dressed after coming into contact with a giant hogweed.
Keith Gallacher, director of Complete Weed Control in Scotland, which carries out soil maintenance and tree management, spotted young shoots of the dangerous, fast-spreading plant emerging in March.
He said: ‘Our teams saw the much earlier than expected emergence of the young giant hogweed during routine inspections in East Lothian, near Musselburgh.
“With such an early start and the growth rate the plants are capable of, 2024 is likely to be a bumper year for this predatory invader.
‘Like many invasive species, such as Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam, it was brought to the UK as an architectural oddity, but has now escaped and, with no natural enemies, grows in dense colonies, especially along waterways. of water.
“It is part of the Apiaceae family, which includes carrots, parsnips, cumin, coriander and parsley, but its dense foliage blocks light from reaching the soil, killing native plants and causing rapid soil erosion.”
What is giant hogweed?
‘Britain’s most dangerous plant’: Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), found throughout the country, looks harmless enough but can cause life-changing injuries.
Giant hogweed is a non-native species in the UK.
It was first introduced to the UK as an ornamental plant in the 19th century after being discovered in the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia.
The plant escaped and became naturalized in the wild and can now be found across much of the UK, especially on river banks, as its seeds are carried by water.
It has been spreading uncontrollably across Scotland for decades, producing up to 50,000 seeds that can survive for many years.
But the sap of the herb, which looks like a giant version of the harmless cow parsley plant, is extremely toxic to humans and animals, causing horrible skin burns.
The skin remains sensitive to ultraviolet light for many years and can even cause blindness if it is close to the eyes.
Every year, thousands of people, including children and pets, suffer life-changing injuries from Giant Hogweed after accidentally coming into contact with it in the wild.