New Zealand woman glues mouth shut with superglue which she thought was coldsore cream
64-year-old had to use grunts and taps to lead emergency services to her house
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A 64-year-old woman in New Zealand mistook a tube of superglue for her coldsore cream and glued her lips together.
The woman, from Dunedin, on the south coast of the country's South Island, gave her story to 3 News on condition of anonymity.
She said that while fumbling for the cream in the middle of the night, she unwittingly happened upon the powerful adhesive and rubbed it on her lips, awaiting the soothing relief of a coldsore remedy.
She said: “I got into bed and I could feel this tingling on my lips, so I thought I’d get the cold sore cream.
"I have all my ointments in a tray in the cupboard, so I get out of bed and I dived into the tray and I couldn’t smell it because I was blocked up.
"And then I got into bed and thought, 'what have I put on my mouth?'.”
Realising what had happened, she said she dialled the emergency services, but her mouth was glued shut.
"I couldn’t speak on the phone so I couldn’t tell them where I lived, I couldn’t tell them my phone number," she said.
"The communication was 'Do you live in Dunedin?' and I grunted 'mmm', and then the lady went through all the suburbs and then all the streets. She was very, very patient.
“I had to tap on the phone, one tap for no and two taps for yes, and then it took a long time to narrow down the streets and then all the numbers too."
Police were also sent to her address, in case she had been attacked and gagged. The woman was taken by ambulance to Dunedin Hospital, where medics used paraffin oil to remove the glue.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments