Woman ends up in hospital after finding napkin on car door handle
A hair salon owner was out celebrating her birthday when she found herself in hospital for what a doctor said could've been a kidnapping attempt.
In a Facebook video Erin Mims described what had happened last Tuesday afternoon when she and her husband were out.
"My husband and I headed to Prospect Park on the north side of Houston for Taco Tuesday, before heading to the spa and then my birthday dinner," Ms Mims said.
"After we finished eating and walked to the car, there was a napkin sticking out of the door handle."
"I’m a germaphobe so normally I wouldn't touch anything like that but I did have a margarita and I thought my husband put it in the door or something."
After finding out her husband didn't wedge the napkin in the door handle, she said she immediately started looking for hand sanitiser and went inside to wash her hands.
She said her fingertips started tingling soon after, and as they were driving to the spa it only got worse.
"My whole arm started tingling, then it started to feel numb," she said.
"I got lightheaded, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I got hot, it was just a whole bunch of different feelings at once.
She said she started to panic and she and her husband drove to hospital.
"Once we got to emergency I explained what happened and they immediately brought me to the back, took my blood pressure and told me my vitals were not stable," she said.
Acute poisoning
Ms Mims said she was at hospital for six and a half hours, where she was given fluids and had a CT scan and blood test.
"The doctor said I had acute poisoning from an unknown substance," she claimed.
"He said I didn’t have enough in my system to determine what it was."
"But just that little amount had me messed up ya’ll, so just imagine if I would’ve grabbed it with my whole hand, I could’ve been dead."
Ms Mims said she recorded the video explaining her incident to raise awareness.
"What started off as a great day ended up being one of the scariest moments of my life, she said.
"All the women in Houston and just everyone, be careful when you’re out, pay attention to your surroundings, be safe.
"There are some crazy people in the world, I never thought this would happen to me or on my side of town.
"I'm thankful I’m here."
According to FOX 26, the Houston DEA office said it was the first time they heard of this particular incident.
Response on social media
Ms Mims' video has reached more than a million views, with many people thanking her for bringing the incident to their attention.
"So glad you are now okay Erin, I have passed this onto my female friends," one person responded.
However some doubted the validity of her story, suggesting she may have just had a panic attack.
A few also asked whether there is CCTV footage available of the incident, which Ms Mims said she is seeking to find out.
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Poison control expert comments on incident
Although the details of her toxicology report are unknown, local poison control expert Mark Winter spoke to FOX 25 and said her symptoms match hundreds of different poisons, even though her exposure would be considered "casual", or minimal.
The restaurant where Ms Mims dined with her husband has not responded to local media about whether other customers experienced similar events.
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