Man has spent more than 40 days on ventilator after handling invasive plant species
MADEIRA, Ohio (WKRC) - Many of us heard the saying "leaves of three, leave it be" to talk about poison ivy, but an invasive species that can be deadly to animals and humans popping up across the Tri-State is something you need to be on the lookout for.
It's called poison hemlock and Jeanne LeBlond's husband has been in the hospital for 41 days because of it. He's been unable to breathe on his own after he was exposed to it doing yard work.
"We thought he was dehydrated. So, he drank a bunch of water and we watched a show on TV and then we went to bed," LeBlond said.
Around 2 that morning, LeBlond says her husband couldn't breathe. They went to the hospital and he was admitted but he continued getting worse over the next day.
"He is at this point, in the ICU on a ventilator, on a chest tube bleeding from his lungs and on a feeding tube," LeBlond said.
Doctors initially thought it might be COVID-19 due to the lung damage, but his tests came back negative.
"I thought I was going to lose him. It was really bad. He was unconscious. He was not breathing on his own. He was not able to swallow or eat or do anything," LeBlond said.
LeBlond thought it must have had something to do with the yard work. She asked her husband if he handled anything he hadn't seen before, and he said, "Yes." He then described what he’d dealt with.
"My son and I looked for pictures on Google, and we showed him pictures of poisonous plants in Ohio and he said, 'That's it right there.' It was poison hemlock," LeBlond said.
LeBlond’s husband went to the hospital in May. Jeanne is hopeful he will be home by August, but that can't happen until he is off the machines keeping him alive right now.
Invasive species expert and Ohio State University assistant professor Joe Boggs say poison hemlock has really exploded in the Greater Cincinnati area over the past 10 to 15 years.
He says you should always know what you're dealing with when it comes to plants. When it comes to poison hemlock, he says just use an herbicide on it if you don’t know what you’re doing.
"The danger is so significant that herbicides are probably the safest thing for any person who's trying to get rid of it," Boggs said.
Boggs says it’s not just poison hemlock you need to watch out for. Wild parsnips also tend to grow in the same areas as wild hemlock. The wild parsnips can cause severe burns when the sap gets on the skin and it’s exposed to sunlight.
Poison hemlock widespread in Pennsylvania, dangerous for humans & animals
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Poison hemlock is an invasive species, currently at its peak bloom, along highways, waterways, and in pastures.
What may look like a tall, delicate white flower, packs a potentially deadly punch.
“It can cause different types of muscular paralysis and respiratory failure.”
DWIGHT LINGENFELTER, PENN STATE EXTENSION ASSOCIATE IN WEED SCIENCE.
History buffs may know the plant in relation to Socrates.
“He was given the option of his demise, and he chose to drink tea that had poison hemlock in it,” Lingenfelter said.
If you find it in your yard, you can remove it with a shovel, but be sure to wear gloves and long pants.
“Some people are sensitive to the saps of the plants, it actually can cause some dermatitis or some skin blistering,” said Lingenfelter. “Especially if you’re weed whacking it, for example, to make sure that you have pants, not shorts, cause you get the sap all over your legs and shins and it can cause some irritation.”
Because of the potential dangers, Pennsylvania residents are encouraged to keep an eye out for the white flowers with purple spotted stems this summer.
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