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Urgent warning to parents as girl in Maine, 3, suffers horrific burns after brushing up against a common toxic PLANT found in her backyard
A pleasant summer's afternoon became a nightmare after a three year old girl brushed against what turned out to be a toxic plant.
Ella Cain from Vassalboro, Maine, erupted in blisters and burns over her arms, legs, and face, after coming into contact with the toxic sap of an innocuous-looking weed in her yard.
Her mother, Audrey, believed the outbreak must have been caused by a poison ivy and applied lotion to ease the pain to her daughter.
However, the lotion steroid lotion doctor's gave little Ella to treat the condition only made them worse.
The plant responsible for the burns was the invasive wild parsnip, which was growing unchecked across the family's 113-acre property.
It is widespread in American, commonly seen in northeastern and midwestern states, as well as southern Canada.
Little Ella, whose doctors determined needed a steroid cream to treat the burns, was made to stay indoors and covered from the sun all summer
Mrs Cain noticed the burns just a few hours after her daughter came in contact with the toxic sap
Ella, then two years old, was playing innocently in the family's yard when she spotted the wild parsnip plant.
Wild parsnip is common in backyards from Vermont to California, flowering from from May to July. Fields can stretch for miles, though the exact extent of its spread is hard to pin down, because it is so widespread and varied in its distribution across lands.
The curious toddler smelled it and touched the stems. Her mother also believes Ella's leg brushed against the plant, given the blistering there and on her arms, cheek, and nose.
Mrs Cain said: 'We have that plant all over our property. We just thought they were some kind of flowering plant, we never knew that it was anything dangerous…We didn't think anything of it.
'Next thing you know she's broken out in all these burns and they progressively got worse over the next few days, including all down her face.'
The blistering did not begin immediately. They appeared the following morning.
Mrs Cain woke her young daughter up when she spotted them and was quick to apply a calming lotion to reduce inflammation in the skin and alleviate the burning.
The curious toddler touched the stem of the wild parsnip plant and smelled it, resulting in burns on her arms, face, and legs
The invasive species grew unchecked on the 100-acre property
It only took a few hours for the blisters to become angry burns all over the girl's body.
Doctors prescribed hydrocortisone cream, a topical steroid that reduces inflammation in the affected area, alleviates itching and burning, makes healing quicker, and minimizes redness.
But the steroid was not the end of the line in Ella's treatment.
She had to avoid the sun's harmful rays during a time when they are strongest, wearing long sleeves all the time and playing in the shade.
Mrs Cain said: 'The burns lasted up to two weeks before they healed, that whole time she said how sore it was… It was heartbreaking seeing her in so much pain with these burns all over her.
'I was worried she would be scarred for life, but I think using vitamin E oil when she was in the healing stages really helped because she doesn't have any scarring.'
The burns required treatment with a topical steroid
Mrs Cain said she also applied vitamin E oil to her daughter's skin, which she says helped reduce scarring
The wild parsnip plant is native to the northeast and Midwest, often beside roads and fields.
The plant can grow up to four feet in a season. And with its bright yellow flowers, children may find them appealing.
Mrs Cain said: We live on 113 acres of land so it would be impossible to get rid of all of them but we trim them down as much as we can and spray the area.
'I'm sharing what happened just so people are aware of it and know to stay away from it.'