BOY BURNED ON FACE BY POISONOUS WEED AS HE WENT FOR FOOTBALL
Mother’s warning amid fears of scarring
A 12-YEAR-OLD boy suffered burns to his hands and face after brushing against a plant branded ‘Britain’s most dangerous’.
Kimberley Walker says her son came into contact with a toxic giant hogweed outside St Edward’s Church of England Academy, in Leek, after he was allowed to leave the school grounds to retrieve a football.
He was initially unaware but woke up the next day to find a burn on his hand. Doctors initially dismissed it as a ‘nettle sting’ but the youngster is now being treated by a plastic surgeon at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
And Kimberley is speaking out to raise awareness of the dangers of the seemingly innocuous plant, which causes reactions when it comes into contact with human skin.
The 48-year-old, of Leek, said she thought her son had been burned by an oven. She added: “I asked him what it was, but he didn’t know how he’d done it. I took him to A&E in Matlock and they said he’s got a nettle sting. He still has a scar on his hand now. Then, last Thursday, he went to bed and got up on Friday morning with two burns on his cheek.”
When the burns doubled in size, Kimberley took her son to his GP and was told that evening to take him to the Royal Stoke, as giant hogweed burns ‘can scar and cause blindness’.
She said: “We went to see the plastic surgeon on Tuesday and he thinks one of the burns will heal, but the other is deeper.
“He dressed the burns and gave us an ointment to put on twice a day and we’ve got to go back next week.”
Kimberley says another burn has since appeared and her son has been told to keep them covered up as they are sensitive to light and ‘can keep developing’. “We’ve got to wait until we see the plastic surgeon next week,” she said. “They don’t know whether he’ll be permanently scarred.”
Kimberley says she was ‘shocked’ to discover giant hogweed had caused the injuries as she had never heard of the plant. She said: “I didn’t think a weed could burn. I didn’t realise a plant could cause so much damage.”
Kimberley says she has reported the giant hogweed to the school and Staffordshire County Council. She says the school no longer allows children to leave the grounds to retrieve footballs.
Kimberley said: “My son plays football on the school playground. The teachers have been opening the gate to let the kids go get the ball when it gets kicked out.
“But unbeknown to them that’s where the giant hogweed is. When my son has gone to pick up the football, he’s brushed the leaves on his cheek and back of his hand.
“The caretaker went to look at it and identified it as giant hogweed. They keep the gate shut now.”
The Sentinel has asked the school and the council for comment.