• Graphic design student Tina Sabine, 28, brushed against giant hogweed
• Contact with Britain’s ‘most dangerous plant’ caused serious injuries

A 28-year-old student looked like a ‘Teletubby’ and walked with a stick – after brushing up against Britain’s ‘most dangerous plant’ while walking her dogs.

Tina Sabine, 28, says she woke up one morning in 2021 to find she “physically couldn’t move” and to find her right hand had burst into blisters.

The panicked student quickly called a friend who took her to Warwick A&E where she claims doctors assumed someone had poured acid on her hand due to the severity of her injuries.

It wasn’t until she arrived at the hospital that Ms Sabine looked in the mirror and saw that her face had swollen so much she looked like ‘a Teletubby’.

The graphic design student said doctors then suspected an allergic reaction but were later told she had come into contact with poisonous giant hogweed after being taken to hospital in Birmingham.

Ms Sabine suspects she touched the poisonous plant the day before while walking her dogs Moka and Latte.

She was forcibly hospitalized for a month and it took two weeks before she could walk again and had to use a mobility scooter for six months.

Now the 28-year-old student is forced to use a cane to get around and still cannot use her right hand.

Ms Sabine, of Royal Leamington Spa, West Midlands, said: ‘I went to bed very well. I woke up and physically couldn’t move. I was in pain, not terrible just annoying pain.

“I looked at my hand, it exploded and was bright red. It looked like it had been dipped in acid. At the hospital, they asked if anyone had poured acid on it. my hand.

“My fingers swelled up, they had to cut off my rings, they’re still swollen today.

“I didn’t look in the mirror until the hospital and the right side of my face swelled up so much I looked like a Teletubby.

“I had walked the dogs the day before so I think I must have made contact with them there and then touched my face.

‘It was dazzling. I was in a lot of pain,” Ms. Sabine said.

Giant hogweed is a poisonous weed known as Britain’s ‘most dangerous plant’.

The invasive species, native to western Asia, can reach a height of 16 feet and causes severe burns when touched.

The chemicals in the sap can cause photodermatitis or photosensitivity, where the skin becomes very sensitive to sunlight and can suffer from blistering, pigmentation and lasting scarring.

After coming into contact with the poisonous plant, Ms. Sabine was forced to take daily painkillers and bandage her wounds.

She says she had such a bad reaction to the plant that it caused a blood clot on her spine and walking became an agony.

Ms Sabine said: ‘I wasn’t really conscious the first few days, they were putting cream on it and making sure I wasn’t in pain and waiting to see if I was better.

“I was hospitalized for over a month. I still can’t use my right hand today. I started to feel better after about two weeks.

“I went back to where I suspect I had contact with giant hogweed and it is still there. It’s scary to think that there are children playing and they might touch it.