A confused (and distressed) woman awoke in the middle of the night, seeking relief for her cold sores with cream – but mistakenly ended up sealing her lips shut with superglue.
She was compelled to contact the police, who worried she might be a gagged hostage due to her inability to speak clearly over the phone.
The 64-year-old woman from Dunedin, New Zealand, recounted how the error occurred.
‘I have a tray in the cupboard containing all my ointments, so I got up from bed and plunged into the tray.’
‘I couldn’t smell anything because of congestion.’
‘Then, I got back into bed and realized: what have I applied to my mouth?’
Things only got more complicated after she contacted the police.
‘I was unable to speak on the phone, so I couldn’t inform them of my address,’ she stated. ‘I couldn’t provide my phone number either.’
‘The communication was “Do you live in Dunedin?” and I responded with a grunt “mmm”. The lady patiently went through all the suburbs and then the streets.’
‘I had to tap the phone: one tap for no and two taps for yes. This made it quite a lengthy process to identify the neighborhoods and their respective numbers.’
Concerns led the police to deploy a team of dog handlers, believing the woman had been assaulted inside her residence.
‘The ambulance received a call, but due to the muffled voice, they couldn’t determine if it was a medical situation or if someone had been gagged,’ explained senior sergeant Steve Aitken.
After hospital staff used paraffin oil to remove the glue, the woman was once again able to talk – and she is unlikely to store superglue alongside cold sore cream in the future.
