Actress from 'Grey's 50 Shades' Who Stirred Women's Hearts, Hospitalized with Heart Attack After Touching This

Touched a Toxic Caterpillar During a Trip to Portugal

Actor Jamie Dornan, who gained fame starring in the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' film series, was hospitalized after experiencing symptoms of a heart attack during a trip.

On the 23rd (local time), overseas media including 'People' reported that Dornan, who was traveling in Portugal with a friend, showed paralysis symptoms and was urgently transported to a nearby hospital.

Actor Jamie Dornan [Image source='Fifty Shades of Grey' movie]

A friend who experienced paralysis symptoms like Dornan told the media, "My left hand started to go numb, then my left arm began to tingle. My father is a doctor, and he thought it was a sign of a heart attack." He explained the situation at the time, saying, "I asked my friends to take me to the hospital because I thought I was having heart attack symptoms."

Dornan and his friend rushed to the hospital, but the friend lost consciousness on the way. Meanwhile, Dornan also felt his condition worsening and said, "At some point, I found myself lying in an ambulance. The medical staff told me it was heart attack symptoms." The medical team explained to the two people transported to the hospital that the paralysis symptoms were caused by toxic pine processionary caterpillars.

Donan reportedly came into contact with a toxic caterpillar during his trip to Portugal. [Image source=Donan SNS, Business Insider]

Portugal is actually known as a major habitat for the toxic pine processionary caterpillar. The pine processionary caterpillar is a bug covered with dense hairs, which contain a irritant protein called thaumetopoein. Contact with this protein causes pain, rashes, and allergic reactions on the skin, eyes, and throat.

This protein can rarely lead to anaphylaxis (a hypersensitive reaction of the body to certain substances) shock. Because of this, it is known that in Portugal, animals that come into contact with pine processionary caterpillars die, and people experience paralysis symptoms and are taken to hospitals frequently.