A six-year-old girl ‘screamed bloody murder’ when a cute fluffy white caterpillar stuck its spikes into her face and injected venom.
Katie Shychuk had fallen asleep on the drive home from a day at the Dawson Grange Fair in Dawson, Pennsylvania, and when they arrived her father PJ picked her up to take her into the house.
But PJ didn’t realize that at some point a White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar had fallen out of a tree and onto his shirt.
That became apparent when Katie lay her head on his chest – and let out a blood-curdling scream.
A rash erupted across her face, neck and back, and her parents spent days pulling spikes out of her face with duct tape.
Katie Shychuk, of Dawson, Pennsylvania, lay her head on her dad’s chest after a day at the fair. A small, white fluffy caterpillar had dropped onto his shirt – and injected venom into Katie’s face
‘They walked into the house and she started screaming,’ her mother Lisa told KDKA.
‘She looked like she had fuzz on her face, and I wiped it off, and she screamed bloody murder. The fuzzy stuff on her face were the spikes from the caterpillar.’
Doctors say Katie was lucky.
The sweet-looking critters have such a powerful venom that it can trigger anaphylactic shock in kids.
Dr Randy Peters of AHN Downtown told CBS parents’ first concern should be to check whether their child is struggling to breathe, if their throat or tongue is swelling, or eyes itching.
To get rid of the spikes, Dr Peters said to never use your hands for fear of pushing the spikes deeper into the skin.
The Shychuk family used tape, putting duct tape on Katie’s face to pull out the spikes.
Dr Peters said the ideal way is to blow the spikes, which should be enough force to brush them away.
If you use tape, do it delicately, without crushing the spikes.