Girl with swollen poison-ivy eyes is freaking out the internet
You just know that this is not the way Emily Petrozza dreamed of becoming a star someday – with her horribly swollen face inspiring memes all over social media.
Emily, 21, has her younger sister to thank for that this week.
Somehow over the last few days Emily, who lives in Newington, Connecticut, came in contact with poison ivy.
She’s not sure how, she told media outlets, but she went fishing with a friend and often takes care of feral cats.
At first she saw the rash on her arms.
When she woke up on Monday, her eyes were so swollen she could barely open her eyes. But what she could see made her burst into tears, she told Buzzfeed.
“I didn’t recognize myself,” she said. “I could see a little bit but my eyes were so swollen that it hurt to keep them open.”
She thinks the poison ivy spread to her face when she was taking her contacts out, she told Mashable.
A friend drove her to a walk-in clinic and took a photo of Emily that she sent to Emily’s 17-year-old sister, Lauren.
“When I got that picture, I just started dying laughing,” Lauren told Buzzfeed. “I just thought it was hilarious.”
So she tweeted the photo to the world.
DONT GET POISON IVY ON YOUR EYES pic.twitter.com/yy9oOf2sHM
— Laur (@lauren_petrozza) June 13, 2016
By Thursday photos of Emily’s poison ivy face had been retweeted more than 35,000 times and earned nearly 61,000 likes.
Emily’s four-letter-word response to her sister can’t be shared here.
The internet did what the internet does.
Don't get poison ivy in your eyes pic.twitter.com/iB0vG5pBEW
— jean (@jls421) June 13, 2016
@lauren_petrozza @emtots @NiCKYNOViELLi same same but different pic.twitter.com/jZ6aOmmv0K
— El Patrón (@JustGeeno) June 14, 2016
Some people generously shared Emily’s pain.
@lauren_petrozza only happens to the best of us pic.twitter.com/kZN6aidUCC
— Katie Ross Ⓥ (@Katie_Ross_1) June 16, 2016
“It's so weird having so much attention all of a sudden from social media,” Emily told Mashable.
Her face is back to normal now.
the aftermath @emtots pic.twitter.com/ny3vRdvf5Y
— Rachel (@raachelds) June 14, 2016
And she’s not mad (anymore) at her sister.
“I want people to know I’m not mad at my sister for posting the picture in the first place,” she told Fox 61 in Hartford. “We always joke around with each other and neither of us ever expected it to turn out like this.”
Oh, and one more thing, said Emily.
Wash your hands after being outdoors.
This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Girl with swollen poison-ivy eyes is freaking out the internet."