My daughter, 6, was covered in painful rash after being poisoned by killer plant in garden – parents need to look out
A MUM has shared an urgent warning after her six-year-old was poisoned by a "deadly" garden plant.
Chavana Neuweg urged parents to beware of it to stop their kids having bad reaction to it.
It began after she spotted a rash on her daughter's face, but soon her eye, ear, and entire face became swollen and red.
When her daughter's skin showed no signs of improving, and soon began to have trouble breathing and acting lethargic, they took a trip to the doctor's.
Taking to Facebook, Chavana from Iowa, US, begged people to read her post to prevent children from the poison reaction.
She said: "This is probably the most important post I'll ever make on here. But I couldn't waste another minute not telling other families about this so they can be informed too. Especially, because it could save my daughters life if you are just a bit informed.
"Please read this and take it seriously. I'm literally begging you for the safety of my child.
"Yesterday, my 6 year old daughter started to get a rash on her face. She has always had bad allergies to bugs/bees/plants, but this was spreading quickly.
Most read in Health
"This was not our first run in with a bad "rash" with her so we did what we knew on how to treat it. (Benadryl, cold compress, oatmeal baths, etc.)
"The rash kept spreading and swelling. By this morning, my daughters eye, ear, and entire face was so swollen and covered in this blistery rash.
"She was having trouble breathing, acting lethargic, and just completely miserable. We took her to the doctor and they gave her prednisone for poison. At this point we still weren't sure what and where she could have came into contact with poison.
"By this evening the rash was still continuing to spread and her face was still extremely swollen. She barely talked at all and slept on and off all day.
"We decided to do a walk around our property to look for any plants that could have gave her this bad of a reaction. And then.. we found it. And wow were we surprised."
The mum explained how poison hemlock had been growing in her garden, and hundreds of the plants had spread throughout her property and adjoining houses.
She said: "Our property (and all of our neighbors properties) are lined with hundreds of very dangerous plants called POISON HEMLOCK.
"After a quick search (which turned into hours of research) we quickly found out what we were dealing with, which is worse than we ever expected.
"Our daughter smelled the top of this "flower", ingesting it and causing one of the worst poison reactions I have ever seen. She is still in rough shape as I type this.
"This plant is DEADLY. It's considered one of the absolute worst and deadliest plants in America. It looks like a harmless weed but can grow over 10 feet tall. You will find it often along creeks, railroads, and ditches.
"The plant is unlike many others because it effects the nervous system and can cause nerve and muscle paralysis, vomiting, nausea, coma, muscle pain, seizures, convulsions, loss of speech, rapid heart rate, and much more.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"This plant is so bad that you have to turn it in to the state when or if you find it and they have to dispose of it because it's actually illegal to do it yourself. Also, never burn it!!! It could cause the poison to become airborne.
"I'm not posting this to scare you. But please educate yourselves and your babies on dangerous plants/trees because it is so so important!"
Hemlock plant
The poison hemlock is a dangerous plant with white flowers that grow in clusters, and a stem with purple spots.
The plant can grow up to 9 feet tall.
Hemlock typically grows in the spring, but in some locations it can grow as year-round.
Hemlock poisoning occurs after ingesting any part of the plant, such as the seeds, flowers, leaves, or fruits.
All parts of this plant contain toxic alkaloids that can be fatal even in small amounts.
The alkaloids can affect nerve impulse transmission to your muscles, eventually killing you through respiratory failure.
Even touching this plant may cause a skin reaction in some people.
To date, there is no antidote.
The plant is otherwise known as:
- deadly hemlock
- poison parsley
- California fern
- spotted hemlock
Common symptoms of Hemlock poisoning may include:
- trembling
- burning in the digestive tract
- increased salivation
- dilated pupils
- muscle pain
- muscle weakness or muscle paralysis
- rapid heart rate followed by a decreased heart rate
- loss of speech
- convulsions
- unconsciousness or coma