The latest victim of a 'Taliban' terror weed on the rampage across Britain told today how he was nearly blinded for life.
Oliver Fenton, 25, was left with horrific burns to his face when toxic sap from the giant hogweed squirted over him.
Horrically, some of the juice landed on his eyelid and doctors said he was lucky not to have been blinded.
Experts say the recent hot weather followed by rain has been the perfect cocktail for hogweed, which is native to the Taliban's stronghold of Afghanistan but has escaped into this country after Victorian plant hunters shipped it over.
Gardener Oliver Fenton gets treatment as the latest victim of 'Taliban' terror weed, now on the rampage across Britain
It can tower a Triffid-like 23ft tall and is now public enemy number one in the countryside.
Showing the terrible burns to his face and body, Oliver, a self-employed gardener from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, described what happened.
'I was in someone's garden doing some garden clearance and I didn't actually cut any of the hogweed - I just came into contact with it.
'It was the red marks which came up first of all after the first few hours.
Oliver Fenton's eye which sustained burns to the eyelid. Today Mr Fenton spoke of how he was nearly blinded for life after the sap landed on his eyelid
'Unaware I had got this sap on me, I continued to work and it wasn't until two and a half days later I came up with all the blisters.
'I saw a nurse at my doctors and she basically said that I had been stung by this stuff.
'She actually didn't know anything about it and had Googled it online.
'I had steroid cream, dressings, it was all bandaged up for around four or five days.
'Being self-employed I couldn't really take too much time off without it affecting my money
'So I had to get it bandaged up and just get on with working.'
A huge 'Taliban' terror plant on the march across the British countryside
Horrifically, some of the sap landed on his eyelid.
'If you actually get the sap in your eye you can be blind so that was really close' he said.
One of his friends, Jamie Curtis, has also been badly burnt by the Taliban sap.
'He was strimming around a pond in Leybourne for a company that he worked for.
'He was strimming in shorts and T-shirt and goggles and hard hat and got covered in the sap.
'He wasn't aware what was going on until he came up two days later in the blisters.
'He's gone through the same - in fact his was a little worse than mine.
'He had to go to A&E and they were talking about skin grafts and stuff like that.
'He is now on a really strong steroid cream.'
Describing the pain he's endured from the blistering, Oliver said 'It's unbearable, it's really itchy, really irritating.
'It's as if you've been dancing in stinging nettles or something like that.
'Once it's had a bit of sunlight on it, that's when it reacts to the UV rays and starts to blister.
'It's really itchy, it's nasty, it's just really horrible and uncomfortable to work with.
'You're trying to not think about it but it's just constantly there. You can't get rid of it.
Burns sustained to Oliver Fenton's arm. Blisters and burns inflicted by the weed are said to cause 'excruciating agony'
'I was taking Ibuprofen and I was on the steroid cream, antihistamine tablets and literally for two or three days I was in excruciating agony, constantly being reminded of the pain until the blisters popped and started to heal up.
'The red marks, even after they've blistered the first time can last on your skin I've read online for up to four years.
'Some people have it up to six years and in extreme cases it can last up to 10 years.'
Giant Hogweed or Heracleum mantegazzianum, is a weed which has dangerous effects on human health.
Its sap contains toxic chemicals which react with light when in contact with human skin, causing blistering within 48 hours.
Effectively it prevents the skin from protecting itself from sunlight, which can lead to very bad sunburn and scarring.
Exposure can result in blisters, long-lasting scars, and - if it comes in contact with eyes - blindness.
It can cause ulcers and blindness and one nature expert, Mike Duddy, from the River Trust, said 'It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous plant in Britain.'
Horticulturist Dean Simmons was left with life-changing injuries after brushing against one of the plants growing in Taunton, Somerset, in the summer of 2015
The terror is an alien invader from the badlands of Afghanistan and Iraq which was innocently shipped into the UK by well-meaning Victorian plant hunters in the 19th century.
Spitting out poisonous sap when touched, it has escaped from country mansion gardens and private collections.
Now, boosted by the hot weather and just the right amount of rain, it's spreading like wildfire across our countryside.
Children are especially at risk - its stems are hollow, so they try to use the 'tubes' as pretend telescopes or peashooters.
There have been several cases in the past of youngsters screaming in pain from the agonising blisters which appear on their skin.
Now, with the summer holidays looming, parents are being warned to tell their children not to touch the plant whose leaves, stems, roots, flowers and seeds all contain the poisonous toxin.
Dean Simmons' life-changing injuries after brushing against one of the plants growing in Taunton, Somerset
Horticulturist Dean Simmons was left with life-changing injuries after brushing against one of the plants growing in Taunton, Somerset, in the summer of 2015.
Its tentacle-like fronds touched his
