Pastor of Šėta was injured by his own garden: his hands and feet were covered in non-healing blisters

For many, a garden is a refreshment and an oasis of peace, but for the parish priest of Šėta's Holy Trinity Parish, Father Robert Gedvydas Skrinskas, his own beds have become a source of painful trials. The clergyman, who grows cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and pumpkins near the parish house, felt unwell after a busy day in the garden – his hands and feet were covered with itchy and unhealing blisters.

Which plant is really to blame – just guessing

The priest shared his hobby and the unexpected misfortune on social media. Here he says that he has a small garden near his parish house, where he grows all sorts of flowers. However, lately his joy has been dampened by a painful skin rash.

„The blisters are indeed still twitching, very itchy, but it seems to be getting better little by little,– said Fr. R. G. Skrinskas, adding that he was still not sure which plant was the culprit behind the problem.

The clergyman himself, who humorously refers to his plants as „biological weapons“, is considering several theories. Initially, suspicion fell on pumpkins.

„At first I thought it was pumpkin leaves. You have to pick the tiny snails off the pumpkins in the morning so they don't gnaw the blossoms off. And now it's summer, it's hot, the dew is high, so I'm wearing shorts. The prickly leaves make my legs scratch, so I thought maybe it's that“, – mused the pastor.

Later, tomatoes, which he was intensively pruning, were added to his list of suspicions.

„I spent about two hours pruning them from the very bottom. They are densely planted, so I had to crawl between them. I think maybe it's the tomatoes now," the priest said.

After talking to journalists, a third „suspect“ – emerged from the roses growing next to the vegetable garden, whose sap is known to cause severe skin burns. Although the clergyman himself says he did not touch them directly, he does not rule out the possibility that they may have contributed to the disaster.

„Either the pumpkin, or the tomato, or the roses could have contributed to some extent“, – summarised Fr. R. G. Skrinskas, who assured that Sosnovsky's bursitis, which often causes similar burns, is certainly not present on his property.

While the blisters are gradually healing, the pastor of Šėta continues to tend his garden, but now with much more caution, and wishes other gardeners to be careful and to protect their health.

The blisters are most likely caused by roses

The clergyman also shared photos of what his hands and feet look like after intensive work in the gardens.

The photos show significant skin lesions – redness, severe fluid-filled blisters and darker skin patches – which are very characteristic of phytophotodermatitis. It is a chemical burn of the skin that occurs when the sap of certain plants (which contains substances called furanocoumarins) is deposited on the skin, and then the skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun.

Of all the plants mentioned by the priest, rue is the most likely and most potent to cause this reaction. Ruth is one of the best known phototoxic plants. Its juice is rich in furanocoumarins, which make the skin extremely sensitive to UV rays. Contact with ruthenium juice and the sun produces exactly the symptoms seen in the photo: a severe blistering rash that appears not immediately but after 24–48 hours.

After the blisters have healed, dark spots (hyperpigmentation) may remain in the area for a long time. In fact, it seems that all the pastor had to do was pass by, lean on or accidentally touch the cut stalks of rue to get a small amount of sap on his skin.

Pumpkin and cucumber leaves are prickly and can cause mechanical skin irritation (contact dermatitis), which is manifested by redness and itching. However, they rarely cause such a severe blistering rash. Tomato leaves can also irritate sensitive skin, but do not tend to cause phytophotodermatitis at this level.