Martin Roberts, 56, uploaded a video to Instagram this morning revealing at 3:30am he was in A&E after coming in contact with the plant. With severely swollen eyes and tears streaming down his cheeks, The Homes Under the Hammer presenter said: “This is a really important warning, it’s 3:30am in the morning and I’m in A&E. After doing some gardening earlier on and there’s a plant called Euphorbia, you need to look it up on the internet because it’s in lots of people’s gardens and if you cut it as I did, it produces a sap, a white sap and if you get that on your hands, and worse, if you get it on your eyes then it causes some serious issues and that’s exactly what I am like now.”
This is a really important warning, it’s 3:30am in the morning and I’m in A&E
Martin Roberts
The star added: “So it’s got worse and worse and worse this evening and I couldn’t sleep so now I’m just waiting to see a doctor.
“So listen, look out for this plant Euphorbia it’s green and has yellowy, green leaves.”
Euphorbia plants produce a white latex sap, and this has been shown in studies to be highly toxic and an irritant to the skin and eye.
One report illustrated the spectrum of ocular inflammation caused by accidental inoculation of latex of euphorbia plant.
Katherine McVeigh, of the Bristol Eye Hospital in the UK, advised to wash the eye with water immediately if sap gets into the eye.
“Irrigation of the eye is key when any chemical injury occurs, as it not only dilutes the substance in question but helps to reset the pH of the ocular surface,” she told Reuters.
Martin has since posted another video to Instagram to let his followers know he’s on the mend.
He posted: “I’m back from the hospital, I’m on lots of drugs and various eye drops, but as you can see, my eyes are still in a right old state and I feel pretty lousy.
“But thank you for all your kind words and get well soon wishes, but I want to make sure you don’t fall into this experience that I had.”
Showing his fans the plant, he said: “You might have it in your garden, very characteristic these, not exactly flowers, but strange coloured petals.
“But the thing is, when you try and weed it or take it out, make sure you’re wearing eye protection and gloves and all sorts of things.
“It’s the sap, the white stuff in the stem that causes this irritation.
“I don’t want anyone else to suffer like this.”
The Royal Horticultural Society warns that euphorbia, in all its parts, is highly toxic by ingestion.
It advises: “If you think a child or adult has eaten part of a doubtful plant, seek medical advice immediately from a hospital Accident & Emergency department.”
Another star who suffered a frightening reaction to something is Miranda star Sarah Hadland.
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