A six-year-old boy felt as though he had been 'set on fire' after coming into contact with one of the UK's most dangerous plants, leaving his chest covered in painful blisters. Jesse May was on a caravan holiday with his mother, Kara May, in Maidstone, Kent, when the incident occurred.
While playing outside with a friend during hot weather, the boys ran around without tops on and used the plant as a pretend 'axe' to hit each other. When Jesse returned to their holiday home, he told his mother his chest felt 'funny'. However, upon inspection, Kara could see nothing on his skin.
The next morning, Jesse woke to find his chest covered in 'oozing' blisters. Initially, Kara, 39, suspected an allergic reaction or a burn and rushed him to a nearby pharmacist. The pharmacist identified the cause as giant hogweed, a plant whose sap can cause severe burns when exposed to sunlight, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.
Kara, an NHS worker, noted that if Jesse had bathed that evening, the burns might have been less severe. Two years on, the now eight-year-old has been left with a six-inch scar on his chest. Kara is now warning others about the plant's dangers.
She said: 'I was in the caravan and he came back in and he said his chest felt funny. I looked at his chest and I couldn't see anything on it. The next day when he woke up with blisters from his chest right down to his belly button. He said it felt like it was burning. They were pus-filled blisters and where he had rolled in his sleep some had burst.'
She added: 'They were oozing and the ones that had burst were bright red and raw skin. I asked him if he had touched anything hot or been by the kettle and burned himself. Once I found out what it was, when I got back to the caravan park, I told the warden and we went round and we found a lot of it in the overgrowth and the woodlands.'
Jesse described the pain as feeling like he had been set on fire. Kara emphasised that if she had washed his chest that night, the burn might not have been as bad. The pharmacist also warned that if Jesse had touched his eyes after handling the sap, he could have gone blind.
Although the scar is fading, Jesse's skin has been permanently damaged and he cannot go outside in the sun without a t-shirt. Kara is raising awareness to distinguish giant hogweed from harmless cow parsley, advising anyone who suspects contact to wash the area immediately and avoid sun exposure.
