Houston Woman Suffers ‘Acute Poisoning’ After Touching Napkin Left On Her Car

A Houston woman ended up in the hospital last week after handling a poisoned napkin wedged into the door handle of her car.

On Tuesday, Erin Mims celebrated her birthday with her husband at a local restaurant. As they were leaving, she noticed the napkin on her car and threw it away.

“I didn’t think nothing of it; I just threw it out,” Mims told FOX 26. “I opened the door with the tips of my fingers. I asked my husband, did you put a napkin in the door? And he said no.”

She returned to the restaurant to wash her hands before getting in her car, and her fingers started tingling. Within five minutes, her whole arm was numb, she was having trouble breathing, and her heart started beating really fast. 

Mims’ husband drove her to a nearby hospital, where doctors performed multiple tests. Doctors told Mims that her vitals were all over the place, but there wasn’t enough poison in her system to determine what it was. The doctor told her it sounded like a failed attempt at kidnapping.

“All I could do was think about my babies. It was the scariest moment of my life,” Mims told the outlet. 

Mims decided to share her story on social media to warn others. It ended up going viral, and others shared similar experiences. However, the Houston Police Department said this is the first case of its kind that they have seen. 

Mark Winter, a poison control expert with the Southeast Houston Poison Center, explains that Mims symptoms matched hundreds of different poisons and described her exposure as “casual” or “minimal.”

“The probability is that you would have to have a lot more than just a casual exposure,” Winter said.