A student was left looking like a 'Teletubby' and needing a walking stick at the age of just 28 - after simply brushing against giant hogweed while walking her dogs. Tina Sabine says she woke up one morning in 2021 and found she 'physically couldn't move' and her right hand had erupted in blisters.
The panicked 28-year-old called a friend who rushed her to Warwick A&E, Warwickshire, where she claims medics assumed someone had poured acid on her hand her injuries were so severe. It wasn't until she arrived at the hospital that Tina looked in the mirror and saw that her face had swollen so much that she looked like 'a Teletubby'.
The graphic design student says doctors then suspected an allergic reaction but when she was transferred to Birmingham Hospital a consultant said she had come into contact with the toxic plant. Tina suspects she'd touched giant hogweed the day before when she'd been walking her dogs Mocha and Latte.
She was forced in hospital for one month and it was two weeks until she was able to walk again and had to use a mobility scooter for six months. Now, Tina is forced to use a walking stick to get around and still can't use her right hand.
Tina, from Royal Leamington Spa, West Mids, said: "I went to bed absolutely fine. I woke up and I couldn't physically move. I was in pain, not terrible just annoying pain. "I looked at my hand, it blew up and was bright red. It looked like it had been dunked in acid. At the hospital they asked if someone had poured acid on my hand.
"My fingers swelled up, they had to cut off my rings, they're still swollen today. I didn't look in the mirror until the hospital and the right side of my face bulged out so much that I looked like a Teletubby.
"I'd been walking the dogs the day before so I think I must have come into contact with it there and then touched my face. It was blistering. I was in a lot of pain."
Tina's burns were dressed daily and she was given pain medication. She says she'd had such a bad reaction to the plant that it caused a blood clot on her spine and walking became agony.
Tina said: "I wasn't really conscious the first few days, they were putting cream on it and making sure I wasn't in pain and waiting to see if I got better. I was in hospital for over a month. I still can't use my right hand today. I started feeling better after about two weeks.
"I've been back to the place where I suspect I came into contact with the hogweed and it's still there. It's scary to think that there are kids out playing and could touch it."
WHAT IS GIANT HOGWEED?
Giant hogweed is invasive and potentially harmful. Chemicals in the sap can cause photodermatitis or photosensitivity, where the skin becomes very sensitive to sunlight and may suffer blistering, pigmentation and long-lasting scars. (Information from RHS)
