A Houston woman named Erin Mims went viral on social media this week after sharing a scary story. Mims said she was celebrating her birthday at a local restaurant on Tuesday (Aug. 16) with her husband when a dangerous situation unfolded. The couple was leaving the eatery and headed to a spa when she noticed a napkin on the handle of the car door; without thinking, she removed it and got in the vehicle.
She spoke with local Houston station Fox 26 about her experience: “I didn’t think nothing of it, I just threw it out. 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.'” Before the couple left, she went back into the restaurant to wash her hands. “Maybe five minutes, my whole arm started tingling and feeling numb. I couldn’t breathe. I started getting hot flashes, my chest was hurting, my heart was beating really fast,” she recalled.
As her problems persisted, her husband quickly drove her to the closest hospital where medical staff began running tests and collecting samples of her urine. Mims also had a CAT scan performed and blood tests ran. Soon, doctors revealed her bizarre results, noting it could have been a failed kidnapping. “They said my vitals were all over the place. The doctor came in, and told me it wasn’t enough in my system to determine what it was, but said it was acute poisoning from an unknown substance,” she shared.
She said she thought of her children and considered the experience one of the “scariest” times of her life. Although unconfirmed, social media users shared similar stories. One person tweeted, “This the [second] reel I’ve seen about [people putting] things w/ poison on them on car door handles in Houston. When touched, you feel light-headed, fingers [start] tingling/go numb. It was a dollar on the first one [and] a napkin on the second. Apparently, this is a kidnapping tactic.” Another person noted instances like this are “happening a lot out here (in Houston).”
While on the topic, one woman shared a video detailing how two young girls offered her a rose one night after the woman helped them. She said the girls waited for her to smell the rose before she noticed a powdery substance inside the petals. The woman believed she was targeted for trafficking. A user who reposted the video responded, “At this point, don’t offer me s**t, don’t hand me s**t … back, back!” Fox 26 noted that poison control experts say Mims did the right thing by immediately washing her hands and seeking medical attention.