LANCASTER (WBAP/KLIF News ) – A Lancaster woman is urging her neighbors to be careful after an encounter with the potentially deadly poisonous hemlock plant sent her to the hospital.
In a Facebook post on Lancaster, TX Talks late last month, Kenzie Kizer said the incident was sparked by a letter from the city ordering her to remove weeds in her alley or be fined $400.
She said she pulled the weeds and took a shower to wash out what she thought were splinters. Kizer said less than an hour later, her tongue started swelling, she was dizzy and confused.
She wrote that her chest felt tight and she was struggling to breath. After to a trip to her local emergency room, staff confirmed that she had been poisoned by poisonous hemlock.
Kizer credits the shower for saving her life and turning what could have been a “tragic situation into a mild reaction.”
Lancaster isn’t the only North Texas city where hemlock has been reported. Last year, the dangerous plant was found near White Rock Lake in Dallas.
Hemlock is an extremely poisonous plant that can be identified by small clusters of white flowers that form in an umbrella shape.
Symptoms from exposure can range from vomiting to seizures to respiratory failure.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, there is no antidote for hemlock poisoning and doctors can only treat your symptoms.
The best advice is to avoid touching it all together.
Click here for more information about hemlock.
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