Overview

• Two hours after brushing against hogweed during a blackberry-picking outing in Mayals, Ms Harris noticed a small rash that worsened overnight, spreading along her arm and onto her back.
• The sap of Heracleum sphondylium contains phototoxic compounds that can cause blistering burns and heightened sensitivity to sunlight for months or even years.
• Her GP warned that consuming blackberries tainted with hogweed sap could trigger airway swelling similar to a third-degree burn reaction.
• Ms Harris’s blisters remain intensely painful two weeks on, and doctors estimate the rash could persist for another six months.
• She is now campaigning to raise public awareness of this common plant’s hidden hazards to help prevent similar injuries.