A HOLIDAYMAKER claims her face became so swollen from sun poisoning that her own sister didn't recognise her – after falling asleep on a beach for FIVE HOURS.
Isabela Chatwin saw her face balloon until she looked like "a giant marshmallow" after deciding not to put on sun cream on a getaway with friends in San Diego, California, US.
The 21-year-old assumed she wouldn't need any SPF as it was a cloudy day and she was only planning on taking a short nap on the sand.
But four days later, the interior design assistant realised she'd been fooled by the overcast conditions.
She woke up to discover that her face had swollen so much she couldn't see, and her skin had erupted in painful blisters.
Isabela's face was so deformed, her own sister didn't recognise her at first when she returned to her hometown of Lehi, in Utah, US.
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Hilarious footage shows her bewildered three-year-old sister Aero in the doctor's waiting room asking, "Is that Bela?" while mum Kim, 54, reassures her.
Isabela said: "I fell asleep on the beach for five hours.
"When I woke up my skin looked completely fine for the rest of the day, the next morning it was bright red.
"I thought it was just a sunburn and that was as bad as it was going to get.
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"I woke up the next day and it was puffy and blisters on my cheeks and it was painful."
She said by the fourth day, her face was "so swollen" and the blisters had popped.
"I could barely open my eyes, I could barely see," she added.
"I thought it was going to be permanent. I was really scared.
"It hardly looked human. It was like a giant marshmallow, just completely swollen.
"When I got home, I was wearing a surgical mask to hide it so Aero knew it was me because of my voice.
"I took it off for the first time at the doctors and that's when she saw my face was completely different and she ran to my mum saying, 'Is that Bela?'.
"I teased her and said, 'My name was Jessica, nice to meet you'. Then she said I looked like a turtle."
After rushing to see a doctor, she was diagnosed with sun poisoning, prescribed steroid creams and told to stay out of the sun for three weeks.
Sun poisoning is a serious condition commonly caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation that inflames your skin.
It’s not exactly a medical diagnosis, but a lay term for really bad sunburn.
Unlike a mild sunburn, sun poisoning usually requires medical treatment to prevent complications such as skin damage, heatstroke and cancer.
Facial swelling is one of the most common symptoms.
What is sun poisoning?
Sun poisoning is basically a severe sunburn – but it does require medical attention.
There are eight other key symptoms to be aware of:
- Skin redness and blistering
- Pain and tingling
- Swelling
- Headache
- Fever and chills
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Dehydration
If you think you or someone you know has sun poisoning, you need to see a doctor right away.
Your doctor may treat sun poisoning with cold compresses and intravenous (IV) fluids for dehydration.
They might also prescribe steroids for blistering and swelling, antibiotics to prevent infection and pain medication for relief.
Source: WebMd
Isabela shared the footage on TikTok five years on since the incident and said she was speaking out to warn others how important it is to wear sun cream, no matter how cloudy the sky is.
Isabela said: "It's funny to look back but it was excruciatingly painful.
"I usually wear sun cream because I have really fair skin.
"It was a cloudy day, it had rained and I didn't realise I was going to sleep that long.
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"It doesn't matter what the sky looks like, if you're outside and the sun is up, protect your skin no matter what.
"I'm really cautious now. I wear sun cream if I'm out for more than an hour and I don't do tanning beds because I don't want to risk it."
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