A 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.
A 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
‘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 protecting itself against the sun’s rays, causing gruesome burns when exposed to natural light.
Giant hogweed carries a sap that stops the skin protecting itself against the sun’s rays, causing gruesome burns when exposed to natural light
It was only two days later that the true culprit was revealed – little Kayvon had touched the dreaded giant hogweed
What’s more, it often causes no immediate pain, meaning its victims can continue to burn in the sun heedless of any problem.
And the plant can spread its sap with only a moment’s exposure.
Miss Morgan, 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 obviously 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’s touched his face and spread it around his body. It didn’t activate until it was really sunny the following morning.
‘It started off 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.
Kayvon suffered his ordeal in 2019, and now his mum is speaking out to warn other parents before the giant hogweed makes its annual return
Miss Morgan said: ‘Every year I put a 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’
‘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 that severe.’
Kayvon suffered his ordeal in 2019, and now his mum is speaking out to warn other parents before the giant hogweed makes its annual return.
The plant flowers in June and July, but burns have been reported earlier.
Miss Morgan said: ‘Every year I put a 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 really quickly in those areas where he’s had hogweed burns.
‘But now all of a sudden he seems to have developed his own resilience back again.’
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 all of a sudden 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.
What is Giant Hogweed?
‘Britain’s most dangerous plant’: Found across the country the Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) looks harmless enough but can deliver life-changing injuries
Giant Hogweed is a non-native species to the UK.
It was first introduced to the UK as an ornamental plant in the 19th century after being discovered in the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia.
The plant escaped and naturalised in the wild and can now be found throughout much of the UK – especially on river banks as its seeds are transported by the water.
It has been spreading uncontrollably across Scotland for decades, producing up to 50,000 seeds which can survive for many years.
But the sap of the weed, which looks like a giant version of the harmless plant cow parsley, is extremely toxic to humans and animals, causing horrific burns on the skin.
The skin remains sensitive to UV light for many years – and can even cause blindness if near the eyes.
Every year, thousands of people, including children and pets, suffer life-changing injuries from Giant Hogweed after accidentally coming into contact with it out in the wild.
