Author: Sal
Isle of Wight Mushroom Incident: Police Confirm Details
Wednesday, 17th September, 2008 at 1:24 pm, Isle of Wight
Following on from our previous posts about the death of a woman in her 40s and another being taken ill on the Island, we’ve now received further details from the Police.
No names have been released yet, but we understand that Police were called to an address in Carisbrooke Road High Street, Newport early this morning where the woman was pronounced dead by paramedics.
A little later they were also called to an address in Gunville Road, Newport where a second woman, in her 20s had been taken ill.
Confirmation from the hospital is that the second woman is described as being in a stable condition and fully conscious.
She told Police that she and her husband had visited the Ventnor Botanic Gardens on Sunday (September 14), and picked a number of wild mushrooms which were consumed by herself and the dead woman on Monday.
The cause of the second woman’s illness, and the first woman’s death, have not been confirmed yet, and are subject to further investigations. Police are examining the mushrooms which were recovered from one of the addresses in Newport to confirm their identities, and where they may from.
Inspector Colin Hall said:
“The cause of the first woman’s death, and the second woman’s illness, have not been confirmed yet, but officers are concerned about a possible link with the picking and eating of wild mushrooms.
“Officers have been told these mushrooms have not been passed on to any other people, but I’m appealing to anyone who picks wild mushrooms without expert knowledge not to eat them.”
The death is not being treated as suspicious, and the Isle of Wight Coroner’s Office has been informed.
Email This Story To A Friend
September 18th, 2008 at 1:28 am
somewhere I heard mention the ‘Death Head ‘mushroom
The death’s head is presumably Amanita halloides, called both the death cap and the death’s head mushroom. There is no doubt that this is one of the most poisonous of all known mushrooms; in fact it is probably the species involved in the majority of human deaths from mushroom poisoning. Poisoning by Amanita phalloides is characterized by a delay of between 6 and 24 hours from the time of ingestion to the onset of symptoms. During this time, the cells of the kidneys and liver are being attacked. There is no antidote. Mortality is between 10 and 15 percen
September 18th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Unfortunately they look very similar to many edible mushrooms.
I was reading through the wiki page yesterday and it’s pretty scary what they do.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:36 am
its very sad you do need to be so careful i gave partner a parosol mushroom last week found on the downs he had a bit of trouble betty if you know what i mean . but said it was a lovely mushroom , they are much sought after for eating in europe .
September 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Foraging for wild food is one of the most world’s great pleasures – but only if it’s done sustainably and safely.
To protect yourself – and the environment – the most crucial thing is to know what you’re picking. For plants, most people can get away with a couple of good identification books (though it’s always wise to also go out with somebody experienced).
For the best book overall on wild food, try the 2007 edition of Richard Mabey’s ‘Food for Free’, published by Collins (ISBN-13: 978 0 00 724768 0). And if you want a good book on mushrooms, try Roger Phillips’ book, ‘Mushrooms’, published by Macmillan in 2006 (ISBN-13: 978-0330442374). You can’t miss his photos of the deathcap, and the horrific description of what eating it can do.
But for mushrooms, even good books may not be enough – the only safe way to learn is to go out with somebody who knows what they’re doing.
I’m leading a wild food walk on 24 October – but I’ll only be showing people the plants I know, because I don’t know enough about mushrooms. I’d recommend anybody who wants to learn about mushrooms to join the IW Natural History and Archaeological Society (http://www.iwnhas.org/) and go on their fungus forays, with real experts.
Safe, sustainable foraging, folks!
Rowan
September 18th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
“visited the Ventnor Botanic Gardens on Sunday, and picked a number of wild mushrooms”
I hope they weren’t meant to be an exhibit. Surely one should ask before picking anything in the Botanic Gardens anyway!