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<\/p>\nA CHILD was left scarred for life after a moment of contact with "Britain's most dangerous plant".<\/p>\n
Four-year-old Aurora Waters was visiting Delamere Forest in Cheshire, when she started complaining of a pain in her legs.<\/p>\n
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Her mum Keri Beacall initially assumed her daughter was tired, but taking Aurora to the toilet, she discovered the true cause.<\/p>\n
Her child had brushed past the dreaded giant hogweed – and even though she had been wearing leggings – the plant's sap had got to her.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0towering green shoots\u00a0topped by branches of white flowers are capable of inflicting searing burns and\u00a0pus-filled blisters\u00a0if you brush against them.<\/p>\n
The next day, with her wounds worsening, Aurora was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital, who sent her on to the burns unit at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.<\/p>\n
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Keri, 40, said: "It was really bad by then. The whole thing was just blisters, and they were popping and going black. That was the worst part.<\/p>\n
"She was absolutely in agony with it until they cleaned it. She was complaining constantly that it was hurting her." <\/p>\n
Though medics were able to attend to the tot, she'll be left marks from her encounter. <\/p>\n
"They said it will scar her for life – because she's ginger, she's quite fair-skinned so it's noticeable as well," according to mum Keri. <\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n And little Aurora has been left with more than just the physical scars from her brush with Britain's most dangerous plant. <\/p>\n "It's mentally scarred her really," Keri said. <\/p>\n "She's a little tomboy who loves climbing, and now it's just constantly like 'mum, is that hogweed?' <\/p>\n "It's just heartbreaking because she's just got no fear normally."<\/p>\n Giant hogweed sap stops the skin protecting itself against the sun's rays, leading to gruesome burns when exposed to natural light.<\/p>\n Part of what makes it so dangerous is that it often causes no immediate pain, meaning its victims can continue to burn in the sunshine heedless of any problem.<\/p>\n Keri was told by medics that the Aurora's injuries ranked somewhere between a boiling water burn, and a burn inflicted by fire.<\/p>\n She finds it horrifying to think how bad her daughter's injuries might have been had her skin not been partially-protected by leggings.<\/p>\n She said: "Normally, I always put shorts and t-shirts on her; all through summer she's worn shorts.<\/p>\n "But on this day, it was raining, and something – I don't know what – told me put leggings on her.<\/p>\n "I think, if I didn't put those leggings on her, how much worse would it have been? Because it would have been directly on her skin."<\/p>\n Now the Birkenhead mum is speaking out to warn other parents of the perils of giant hogweed.<\/p>\n "It's been heartbreaking, seeing what my daughter has gone through," she said.<\/p>\n "Literally, we've just walked. She's walked along and she's literally just brushed past it.<\/p>\n "I just want to make parents aware of how dangerous this plant is, because there's plenty of kids like my little girl who run through woodlands and like to explore."<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Forestry England, which manages Delamere Forest, said they were unaware of anybody being burned by giant hogweed at the site, nor of the plant being present there.<\/p>\n They said: "Recently, a minor presented with rash-like symptoms during their visit, and the child was given first aid assistance by our recreation team and advised to seek medical attention.<\/p>\n "However the cause of the rash was unknown.<\/p>\n "Across the forests and woodlands we manage, where giant hogweed is present, we have a management plan in place which includes displaying safety signage.<\/p>\n "Where giant hogweed is identified in very busy public areas, including popular recreation destinations like Delamere Forest, this would be immediately removed."<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Cheshire West and Chester Council urged anybody who suspects they've seen giant hogweed to report it.<\/p>\n They said: "All confirmed reports of giant hogweed are placed on a list for eradication treatment and monitoring thereafter.<\/p>\n "As soon as a reported sighting comes in, we inspect to confirm the species is giant hogweed and treat it as a priority to eliminate."<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Mike Duddy, of the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust, said in 2015 that the giant hogweed was "without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous plant in Britain".<\/p>\n Giant hogweed can grow to a whopping 25ft and can be easily mistaken for Cow Parsley with its green,\u00a0rhubarb-like\u00a0stems and small white flowers.<\/p>\n But it is\u00a0identified by its purple blotched stem, green leaves and flower heads which can grow two feet across.<\/p>\n Its sap contains a toxin called furanocoumarins, which reacts with the melanin in your skin and removes protection that patch has from\u00a0UV light. <\/p>\n This causes photosensitivity – where the affected area becomes highly sensitive to sunlight – which is how people can end up with nasty\u00a0burns, lesions and blisters.\u00a0<\/p>\n If exposed to the plant, you should thoroughly wash the area that made contact and keep it out of sunlight for a few days, the Woodland Trust advises.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the NHS notes that it's important to seek medical attention if your child comes into contact with the toxic plant.<\/p>\n Try not to burst any blisters if you get them and also thoroughly the clothes you were wearing in your brush with hogweed. <\/p>\n If you happen to get sap in your eye, flush it out with lots water and see a GP.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/NINTCHDBPICT000515339957.jpg\")
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