Toddler’s ‘chickenpox’ spots morph into agonising blisters that filled up and spread forcing doctors to remove his skin
TODDLER was left screaming in pain after a brush with “Britain’s most dangerous plant” had him covered with blisters so bad that his skin had to be removed.
Kayvon Wright developed red spots on his face and hands the morning after walking with his mum near Chard Reservoir in Somerset, England.
Initially diagnosed as chickenpox, the spots soon developed into painful blisters, and the two-year-old boy was rushed to a burns unit.
It was only two days later that the true culprit was revealed – little Kayvon had touched the dreaded giant hogweed.
Mum Samantha Morgan from Ebbw Vale, Wales, said: “The blisters filled up, and they spread all over his mouth and his face.
“He had a massive blister on his face and it popped on his cheek, and it was oozing.
“When we went to the Bristol burns unit, they had to remove some skin.
“I think that was the most horrific thing for me: I will never forget my son’s screams as they were taking his skin off him.”
She continued: “It was horrendous. It was absolutely horrible.
“He was really stressed out by that point.
“He was in so much pain that he was just lethargic, he didn’t want to do anything, he was just lying in a hospital bed with bandages on his hands and his legs.
“Normally, he’s really active and outgoing, but he was just lying there, not doing anything.”
Giant hogweed carries a sap that stops the skin from protecting itself against the sun’s rays, causing gruesome burns when exposed to natural light.
You don’t expect to be walking down the street with your child, your child picks a flower and suddenly ends up burnt
Samantha Morgan
What’s more, it often causes no immediate pain, meaning its victims can continue to burn in the sun heedless of any problem.
The plant can spread its sap with only a moment’s exposure.
‘We thought it could be chickenpox’
Samantha, 32, said Kayvon would’ve “literally just brushed against it”.
She said: “He was just walking up the pathway that goes up to the reservoir, and he’s just grabbing hold of everything that he can, touching plants and flowers.
“We didn’t even know hogweed existed.
“Then, when he got it on his hands, he touched his face and spread it around his body. It didn’t activate until it was sunny the following morning.
“It started with just some red spots on his hand, some red patches on his skin. It was almost like he had sunburn on his fingers.
“And then it went from that to having little blister spots.
“At first, we thought it could be chickenpox, but they just got bigger from there.”
She continued: “He had to go on antibiotics just in case of infections, he had to have drips for fluids, and pain relief. It was quite a lot.
“I think he was in Bristol burns unit for six or seven days.
“I think it was mostly second-degree burns, nearly third-degree.
“It’s almost like he’d had a chip pan poured over him, the burn was severe.”
Kayvon suffered his ordeal in 2019, and now his mum is speaking out to warn other parents before the giant hogweed returns annually.
The plant flowers in June and July, but burns have been reported earlier.
Miss Morgan said: “Every year I post on Facebook about it now and so do my friends, because we like to raise awareness of it as much as we can.
“None of us even knew it existed before my child got burned with it..”
Kayvon, now six, had big red blotches on his skin for eight months after he was burned.
But the after-effects of giant hogweed exposure would last much longer.
“He’s only now got his natural protection on his skin back,” said his mum.
“Before now, even if he goes out in a little sunlight, we’ve had to put suncream on him because he burns quickly in those areas where he’s had hogweed burns.
“But now all of a sudden he seems to have developed his resilience back again.”
‘Don’t let them touch anything’
Miss Morgan, who now lives in Somerset, urged parents to be vigilant against the plant.
She said: “You don’t expect to be walking down the street with your child, your child picks a flower and suddenly ends up burnt.
“Children themselves have no awareness of it. I think it’s about raising awareness of different plants and how dangerous they can be.
“Don’t just let them touch everything.”
The giant hogweed is native to the Caucasus but was introduced to Britain as an ornamental plant in 1817, and its spread has now got out of control.
It was called “without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous plant in Britain” by Mike Duddy of the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust in 2015.
Everything you need to know about giant hogweeds
Giant Hogweed may look impressive but any contact with the sap of this plant can cause serious injury, particularly to your skin.
What does Giant Hogweed look like?
When fully grown, giant hogweed is aptly named.
The plant can grow up to 25ft tall, with long green stems, purple blotches, and huge branches of small white flowers and large green leaves.
The plant’s flower heads bloom in June and July and can reach up to 2ft across.
Giant hogweed can be mistaken for other plants such as cow parsley, cow parsnip, Queen Anne’s Lace or elderberry as the flowers look similar.
Their size when fully grown is very helpful for identifying the harmful crop.
Why does Giant Hogweed cause rashes, burns and blisters?
Giant hogweed stems have fine needle-like hairs that can cause extreme irritation.
While the sap in giant hogweed contains a chemical called furanocoumarins.
When this toxin comes into contact with the skin, it binds with DNA in skin cells, causing them to die.
The sap reacts with the melanin in your skin and removes protection that patch has from UV light, causing photosensitivity (where the affected area becomes highly sensitive to sunlight), resulting in nasty burns, lesions and blisters.
Those burns can last for several months and, even once they’ve gone, skin can remain scarred and sensitive to sunlight for years to come.
If the hairs of the giant hogweed plant or its sap come into contact with your eyes, they can even cause temporary or even permanent blindness in severe cases.
How do I treat burns from Giant Hogweeds?
The NHS website advises that if you come into contact with giant hogweed and you get a burn, you should wash the affected area with soap and water and then cover it, keeping it out of natural or artificial light.
If blisters appear, do not burst them! If the blisters are extensive, seek medical attention.
Should you get sap in your eye, flush the eye with a large amount of water and seek medical attention.
If you begin to feel unwell after contact with giant hogweed, speak to your doctor.
Ensure you thoroughly and quickly wash the clothes you were wearing when you came into contact with the plant.
And if you’re concerned that a child has come into contact with, or ingested giant hogweed, seek medical attention immediately.