A schoolboy has been left with sore blisters on his skin after supposedly brushing past a highly toxic plant in a North East park. 

Nine-year-old Jenson Price was playing football with friends at Ryhope Park on Saturday when he came into contact with giant hogweeds while collecting his ball. 

The Year 5 student felt initially no pain and thought nothing of it - until he woke up with mysterious marks on his body on Monday morning that looked like “cat scratches.” 

Within a matter of hours, these marks turned from scratch-like marks into “very painful blisters” - prompting a swift trip to the doctors.

Jenson was left with blisters on his skin (Image: UGC)

Mum-of-three Nadia Price said doctors confirmed the marks were from giant hogweed plants, officially known as Heracleum mantegazzianum. 

The highly toxic plant can cause burning and blisters when it comes into contact with human skin - and even temporary blindness in some cases - due to its phototoxic sap. 

The plant is native to the Caucasus mountains in southwest Russia and Georgia, can grow up to 5m tall, and has sharply serrated leaves and splotchy stems.

The 37-year-old took several pictures of Jenson’s painful blisters in a bid to warn other parents and children of the plants, which are located behind Ryhope School. 

“He didn’t feel anything, not even like a nettle sting,” she told The Northern Echo.  

“On Monday morning he got up to go to school and he had, kind of, like cat scratches - I touched it and he said it really hurt.” 


Nadia, who works in a school and is from Ryhope herself, said her son is now on a combination of antibiotics, antihistamines, and steroids. 

He has been off school since Monday evening and is expected to stay off tomorrow due to the painful burns - which Nadia says are so sore that he is struggling to walk. 

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She posted the photos of his injuries on a Facebook group to warn others of the dangers of the plant: “To be honest, I didn’t know they were such a thing until I went on Google.

“I just wanted to raise awareness. I know how many kids are in Ryhope Park playing - and then there’s people with dogs too.” 

Thankfully, Jenson “feels alright in himself” and is continuing his road to recovery, with another doctors visit pencilled in for Friday. 

A Sunderland City Council spokesperson said: "We are aware of reports of giant hogweed in the Ryhope area. The City Council asks anyone who spots giant hogweed in Sunderland to report it at www.sunderland.gov.uk/report-it."