Pain worse than childbirth is caused by this plant

The gympie-gympie, also known as the stinging tree, is a plant native to the rainforests of Australia. It is known for its painful and long-lasting sting, caused by fine hairs on the leaves and stems of the plant. A potent toxin can cause severe pain, swelling and other symptoms in humans and animals that come into contact with them.

Gympie Gympie, or the suicide plant, known to cause unusual pain when touched. Photo: Shutterstock.

An Australian woman named Naomi Lewis, 42, was stung by the plant. According to the newspaper ABC News, last year, while cycling on a trail in the city of Cairns, in the state of Queensland, she fell into a ravine and touched a tree of the species Dendrocnid moroides – the famous gympie-gympie.

The nightmare lasted nine months, during which time Lewis had constant episodes of vomiting and was in great pain from the plant's poison. After a long period of treatment that involved hospitalization, doses of analgesics and thermal compresses, the pain still persists.

”The pain was so great that I started to vomit. I remember thinking I was completely destroyed. It was really, really awful. She had four children, three cesarean deliveries and one natural. None of them come close,” said Naomi.

Several victims of the Australian stinging tree could not bear the suffering and committed suicide. All this because the pain caused by the plant can last for years, with no known cure so far.

Curiosities about the Gympie-gympie

Currently, the plant is considered an endangered species. Its leaves are oval or heart-shaped and white or red fruits, all covered in tiny stinging hairs. Thus, when touching it, human skin absorbs these micropels and often closes, making removal difficult.

The pain is immeasurable, resulting from the release of a neurotoxin produced by the plant as a defense mechanism. As such, the pain has been compared to “being burned with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time,” according to the Ecycle website.

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