Mother poisoned by mushroom found in veggie patch

A mother and daughter are using their terrifying hospital ordeal to warn backyard gardeners against eating mystery mushrooms.

A South Australian mother is sending a message to home gardeners after she and her daughter were rushed to hospital after eating a poisonous mushroom from their veggie patch.

Alice Both said she thought the vegetable “tasted fine” when she bit into it, but when she woke the next morning suffering from gastro-like symptoms, she decided to identify the mushroom with an app on her phone.

Ms Both had first tried growing mushrooms in her shed after seeing a tutorial online but after a failed attempt turned them into compost for her vegie patch to improve the soil.

She was thrilled when she saw the white button shapes push through the soil and cooked them up to eat.

They were both rushed to the emergency department of the Mount Barker hospital before the mother was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for intensive treatment. While her daughter was taken to the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children for observation.

Alice Both woke up with what she thought was ‘gastro’. Picture: Kelly Barnes

“I was dizzy, I felt like I was fading away at that point. I felt very unwell, I had a fever,” Ms Both told The Advertiser.

Her daughter, who only took a bite of her meal, was not seriously ill.

Just this year, 19 children under five have been poisoned by wild mushrooms in South Australia.

The safest way to ensure the mushrooms you eat aren’t deadly is to buy them from a supermarket or greengrocer, an SA Health spokeswoman said.

Symptoms of mushroom poisoning include violent stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea and can last up to three days.

However, some mushrooms like the death cap can cause fatal liver damage.

In Victoria, eight people were hospitalised from death-cap mushroom poisoning in 2020 and one person died.

If you suspect that you or someone else has consumed a wild mushroom, contact the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.