Father Sees Strange Line Down Boy’s Back, Complete Agony Two Days Later

A group of teenage boys and a 7-year-old girl suffered severe burns after coming in contact with a toxic plant called hogweed, which has been spotted growing in parks. (Warning: The photos below are graphic.)

The four boys were playing in a different park, in a separate city from where the girl was when she came in contact with the plant, known as giant hogweed.

“That night on Monday he was screaming in agony. Doctors didn’t have a clue what it was,” Matthew Cocklin, stepfather of 13-year-old Reid Daley, told the Manchester Evening News of his stepson’s reaction to the plant.

“It starts like a red rash, like if you slap someone quite hard it goes bright red and slightly raised up and within 48 hours blisters start to appear. Since Tuesday morning he has had to take eight blister tablets in one go, ibuprofen and pain killers. He said ‘I want to die, stop this pain from hurting.'”

Annie Challinor, the 7-year-old girl who also came in contact with hogweed, was walking with her parents and her younger brother when she brushed against the plant. Over the next two days, the girl suffered a severe reaction and her parents quickly realized what the cause was.

“Nothing happened at all on the Saturday, no sting, nothing,” the girl’s mother, Rebecca, said. “It was Sunday I noticed a long line on her shoulder and back but I thought it was a bramble scratch. Then on Monday they’d turned into blisters, by that point she’d also got a high temperature and was in significant pain. She was very upset by the blisters, they looked hot and angry, and she cried a lot.”

Annie was rushed to a hospital near her home in Chorlton, England, and treated for her reaction.

“Whilst in hospital they washed it, drained it and put a dressing on it. They told us she will be left with a permanent scar and that bit of skin will re-blister every time it is exposed to sunlight, so it’s total sunblock for life on that bit of skin,” Rebecca said.

Both city councils in the hogweed cases issued statements after the children’s reactions, with a Bolton council spokesperson saying the city would remove the hogweed from Moses Gate Country Park, where the incident with the teens occurred.

“As soon as we were made aware of this plant by one of the parents of the children, we began treatment to remove it,” the statement read.”

A spokesman for Salford City Council responded to the girl’s reaction to the hogweed by saying the city would attempt to control its spread.

“Giant Hogweed was introduced to Britain as an ornamental plant by Victorian gardeners but is incredibly invasive and has spread widely across the countryside,” the council’s statement read. “It is very, very difficult to control and eradicate but Salford City Council removes or sprays all accessible Giant Hogweed in Clifton Country park. We have also put up warning signs in the park advising people of the dangers of Giant Hogweed.”

Many readers reacted to the story, urging people to avoid contact with hogweed.

“That’s awful,” one Mad World News reader commented on the site’s Facebook page.

“If you see hogweed report it,” another advised.

Sources: Manchester Evening News, Mad World News/Facebook / Featured Image: Natubico/Wikimedia Commons / Embedded Images: Manchester Evening News