An Ohio man faced death after accidentally eating four poisonous mushrooms that his plant identification app told him were edible.
William Hickman discovered the mushrooms last year while mowing the lawn of his Windham estate.
Hickman, 55, took a photo of the cluster and uploaded the image to a plant identification app on his phone.
The app said the mushrooms were “giant puffballs,” an edible variety, which Hickman then ate with his tortellini dinner that night.
However, the mushrooms were in fact poisonous 'destroying angels', and eight hours later Hickman began vomiting uncontrollably and experiencing severe pain.
William Hickman (right) discovered the mushrooms last year while mowing the lawn of his Windham estate
Hickman was hospitalized and only began to recover after being given an experimental antidote
“You know how when you're sick and then you feel better and you can get some sleep? Well, it just went on and on,” he told CNN.
'There was no relief, the pain was unbearable. It was terrible,” he said.
Hickman's wife Tammy photographed the mushrooms and sent them to poison control.
The workers said they believed Hickman may have eaten a dangerous mushroom and that he needed to be taken to the hospital immediately.
“He's usually very stubborn,” Tammy told the newspaper, but Hickman didn't resist going to the hospital.
In the emergency room, she said, doctors essentially told her to “make arrangements.”
“When I heard that,” Bill said, “and I knew how I felt, I thought, 'I know this is the end.'
Hickman's kidney and liver were in danger of failing and so he was transferred to University Hospital in Cleveland.
The mushrooms were in fact poisonous 'destroying angels' (pictured) and eight hours later Hickman began vomiting uncontrollably and experiencing severe pain.
Hickman (left) was rushed to hospital by his increasingly worried wife Tammy (right)
Tammy (left) was told by doctors to 'make arrangements' because her husband might not make it
Dr. Pierre Gholam, a hepatologist at University Hospital who has treated dozens of people poisoned by mushrooms, helped obtain an experimental antidote.
“It's not FDA approved, but it seems very effective,” he said.
The antidote, an extract from a milk thistle plant called silibinin, must be administered quickly to counteract the effects of toxins on the liver.
“The sooner the better, and ideally no later than 72 hours after you ingest the poison,” Gholam said.
Fortunately, Hickman received the antidote in time and began the long six-month recovery process.
“A lot of people were involved in trying to save me,” Hickman said.
Mushroom foraging has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, but the number of poisonings has increased as a result.
“Fungi are a hot topic right now,” says Dr. Matthew Nelsen, a researcher at the Negaunee Integrative Research Center at the Field Museum in Chicago.
Hickman (right) has made a full recovery, but the physical and mental process took six months
“A lot of the calls we get are kids talking hand-to-mouth, but we also have adults who might think they know what they're doing when foraging,” explains Dr. Gregory M. Muelle, who is vice president of science is at the Chicago Botanic Garden and is a leading expert in fungal conservation who provides advice for its state poison center.
“We see that they don't do that, really,” he added.
Between January and October 2023, U.S. Poison Centers received more than 7,250 calls about possible mushroom poisonings, an 11 percent increase from all of 2022.
This year alone, Ohio poison control centers have received more than 260 mushroom-related calls in October, with 45 percent going to the emergency room and 33 people hospitalized.