A woman got poison ivy in her eyes and the internet is freaking out

Cannot unsee.
 By 
Brian Koerber
 on 

Anyone who has ever felt the terrible aftermath of an encounter with a poison ivy plant will understand just how horrible the experience can be, especially if you end up with the rash in a sensitive area.

Unfortunately for 21-year-old Emily Petrozza from Newington, Connecticut, she landed with a pretty gnarly case of poison ivy on her eyes. 

About four days ago, the rash started to appear.


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Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

But on Monday morning her face looked like this. 

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable


Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Emily isn't exactly sure when she came in contact with poison ivy, but she was fishing with her friend a few days earlier and often takes care of feral cats. Emily told Mashable in an email that the rash started on her arms, but eventually spread to her face.

"It started on my arms and I'm guessing spread to my face from taking my contacts out. Yesterday morning I woke up and couldn't open my eyes," said Emily. 

"My eyes were just really heavy and it hurt to try and keep them open."

Like any nice sibling, Emily's sister Lauren shared photos of their trip to the ER on Twitter. The images of Emily's painfully puffy eyeballs have since received more than 29,000 retweets and 52,000 likes. 

Clearly, Emily truly appreciated the share.

And now Emily's discomfort is the internet's source of entertainment.


While others shared her pain.


Regardless, she's handling her newfound internet fame well. 

"It's so weird having so much attention all of a sudden from social media," Emily says.

And while it's still uncomfortable, Emily is doing much better today.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Bonus: Corgi butts in slow motion


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Brian Koerber

Brian was the Culture Editor and has been working at Mashable on the web culture desk since 2014.

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