A MUM has issued a warning to parents after her tot developed extreme burns on her face after brushing up against a flower. Ella Cain was innocently playing in the backyard when she smelled and knocked a plant's stems featuring delicate yellow petals. 7 Ella had been playing in the garden when she came into contact with the dangerous flower (Credit: Kennedy News and Media) 7 Sap from the plant got onto the tot's skin, which made it sensitive to sunlight (Credit: Kennedy News and Media) The following morning, her mum, Audrey Cain, woke the two-year-old up and spotted tiny blisters bubbling up on her skin.
Thinking she'd fallen victim to poison ivy, the 27-year-old business owner dabbed the marks with chamomile lotion to relieve the itchiness. But later that day, the blisters erupted into large, angry-looking burns all over little Ella's body, including her arms, legs, cheeks and nose. After looking up the plant online, which had invaded the family's 113-acre property, Audrey realised it was a wild parsnip plant .
I was worried she would be scarred for life Audrey Cain Ella's mum The plant can trigger a skin condition also known as phytophotodermatitis . The root of the plant - a parsnip - is fine to eat. But the plant above the ground carries a toxic sap that stops the skin from protecting itself against the sun's rays, causing gruesome burns when exposed to natural light.
The panicked mum-of-four called doctors, who advised her to use hydrocortisone to soothe Ella's scorched .
