Martin Roberts, the well-known presenter of Homes Under the Hammer, has confessed that he "still hasn't recovered" after a seemingly harmless gardening task nearly cost him his sight. In 2019, Roberts was rushed to hospital after pruning a plant with a hidden danger, leaving his eyes swollen, streaming, and in intense pain.
The Ordeal Recounted
Recalling the incident on Channel 5's Garden Makeovers from Hell, now available on My5, Roberts explained that he had noticed a plant in his garden growing "absolutely ballistic" and decided to tidy it up. He said, "I didn't even think about it. We're in Britain; this is not the tropical rainforest where I have to worry about the kind of plants I've got in my garden. I do remember noticing a white sap coming out of the sort of slightly barky stems as I was cutting them. And then I rubbed my eyes with my hands, which have got the remnants of this white sap on it."
Within 20 minutes, his eyes began to "kill" him, and the pain steadily worsened. He described the sensation as feeling like his eyes were "exploding" into his brain. His vision blurred, prompting him to search online for the plant, where he discovered it was euphorbia, also known as spurge, which produces a milky-white sap that can irritate the skin, mouth, and eyes.
Medical Warning
The online poison triage tool Poison Control warns that severe exposure can lead to vomiting, diarrhoea, difficulty swallowing, and swelling of the mouth if the sap is ingested. Eye exposure can cause redness, irritation, blurred vision, and temporary blindness, with reported cases of permanent blindness.
At the hospital, Roberts filmed himself in A&E to warn others. In the video, his eyes were visibly red and watering as he explained the sap's dangers. He recalled, "I told them what had happened, and they were basically saying, 'We need to start washing your eyes out with gallons of water now.' I was like going, 'How serious could this be?' And they were like, 'It could be permanent.'"
Ongoing Effects
Roberts confessed that while his eyes were streaming, he was crying his eyes out at the thought of causing permanent damage. Fortunately, his eyes were washed with a saline solution, and the pain subsided. However, things haven't fully returned to normal. He added, "My eyesight still hasn't recovered. I still get very dry eyes at night, so I have to put in loads of drops. The only consolation is it could have been much worse. Just don't underestimate how nasty this plant is. For me, this was truly a garden makeover that went potentially, life-changingly, horribly wrong. Has it affected my thoughts about gardening? Obviously."
