One good thing about social media is how fast information can be shared. This means warnings about dangers can spread quickly and help keep people safe. A few years ago, a mother shared a warning after her son picked up some tree branches and got a strange red mark on his skin that looked like a grid.
He was quickly taken to the emergency room. Now, Andrea Pergola wants to make sure others know about what happened, because it could help save lives. Her 15-year-old son, Logan, felt a quick, stinging pain when something hit him while he was collecting branches for a volunteer project.
Within minutes, a red, grid-like mark appeared on his arm and soon turned into a painful rash. The pain spread quickly from his arm to his chest. Logan also turned pale and felt dizzy. His mom tried to help by cleaning the area and rubbing garlic on it, since some people believe garlic helps with bug stings.
Even though she tried her best, nothing seemed to help. Logan’s grandpa found the bug that had stung him. He put on thick gloves, placed it in a bag, and looked at it more closely. It was a fuzzy and kind of “cute” caterpillar — but it turned out to be one of the most poisonous caterpillars in North America.
After looking it up online, Andrea realized she needed to take Logan to the emergency room right away.
She shared a post on Facebook warning others to “look up this caterpillar, learn about it, and teach your kids about it.” She explained, “It’s originally from Texas, not Florida, but now it lives here too. If you or your child gets stung, please go to the ER so doctors can treat it. We didn’t know Logan had been stung so many times, and regular medicine like Benadryl wouldn’t have helped at home.”