NZ woman accidentally glues lips together

A poorly (and confused) woman woke up in the middle of the night wanting to relieve her cold sores with cream – but ended up fastening her lips together after using superglue by mistake.

Super glue

She was forced to call police, who feared she was a gagged hostage because she could only grunt and mumble down the phone.

The 64-year-old, from Dunedin, New Zealand, explained how she made the mistake.

‘I have all my ointments in a tray in the cupboard, so I got out of bed and I dived into the tray’.

‘I couldn’t smell it because I was blocked up.

‘And then I got into bed and thought: what have I put on my mouth?’

Things didn’t get any easier once she called police.

‘I couldn’t speak on the phone, so I couldn’t tell them where I lived,’ she said. ’I couldn’t tell them my phone number.

‘The communication was “Do you live in Dunedin?” and I grunted “mmm”, and then the lady went through all the suburbs and then all the streets. She was very, very patient.

‘I had to tap on the phone, one tap for no and two taps for yes, and then it took a long time to narrow down the streets and then all the numbers too.’

Worried police sent a team of dog handlers round after believing the woman had been attacked in her home.

‘Ambulance received a call but, due to the muffled speech, they were unsure whether it was a medical event or whether someone had been gagged,’ said senior sergeant Steve Aitken.

The woman was free to talk again after the glue was removed at hospital using paraffin oil.. and is unlikely to keep superglue next to cold sore cream again.

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