21-year-old Emily Petrozza hails from Newington, Connecticut. Recently, she came into contact with a poison ivy plant. You can only guess what happened next, but little did Emily know the jaw-dropping photo of her in the worst phase of a severe allergic reaction would instantly go viral. Yikes!
Emily knew there was a problem when her arm broke out in an itchy red rash. But then it spread to her face, leaving her eyes red and puffy, then bulging out like something out of a science fiction movie. Emily's entire face became swollen and she was completely unrecognizable. She couldn't even open her eyes, and when she did, it was too painful to bear.
Of course, her sister Lauren couldn't let her walk into the medical clinic before snapping a few photos of her poor sis. And of course, Lauren couldn't let her sister go without posting said photos to Twitter, for all the world to see — and boy, did they. Emily's swollen face went viral, with a very important warning scrawled across the photo: "DON'T GET POISON IVY ON YOUR EYES." Luckily, Emily has a great sense of humor and hopes other people will heed the warning.
Scroll down to see the crazy photo that's been retweeted tens of thousands of times…
This is 21-year-old Emily Petrozza.
Recently, Emily touched her eyes after unknowingly coming into contact with poison ivy.
After removing her contact lenses, Emily noticed a red rash forming on her arm. Once the reaction spread to her eyes, she knew there was a big problem.
Emily doesn't know how and when she touched the poison ivy. However, she did go fishing a few days before the rash broke out, and she also takes care of feral cats.
As you can see, the reaction from the poison ivy left Emily unrecognizable.
Her sister, Lauren, took this photo and posted it to Twitter with the caption, "DON'T GET POISON IVY ON YOUR EYES."
By the time Emily and Lauren made it to the clinic, it was too painful to open her eyes.
Poison ivy contains an oily resin called urushiol, which is what causes the allergic reaction.
According to Wikipedia, poison ivy has three almond-shaped leaflets. Leaf color ranges from light green to dark green, turning bright red in fall. The leaflets of mature leaves are somewhat shiny. Each leaflet has a few or no teeth along its edge, and the leaf surface is smooth.
It's important to be able to identify other poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.
People who come into contact with these plants should immediately wash their skin and visit a doctor should prescription medication be necessary.
As for Emily, she's currently on the mend after two days of medication.
After seeing this, I'm going to become an expert in identifying poison ivy! Please SHARE Emily's warning with your friends on Facebook.
