Jamie Dornan may be best known for his roles in movies and shows like Fifty Shades of Grey, The Tourist, and Once Upon a Time, but recently he's been making headlines for an entirely different (and far stranger) reason: a run-in with a toxic insect.
The Northern Irish actor was on vacation in Portugal to go golfing with several friends, including Scottish journalist Gordon Smart, when the two men became unexpectedly and horribly ill.
According to Smart, who revealed details of the incident on the BBC panel show The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected, the group had a great first day of golfing before heading out on the town for the night. They drank lots of wine and espresso martinis—a typical night out on vacation.
The next day, Smart began experiencing tingling in his left hand and arm. Fearing it was a heart attack, Smart took himself to a local medical center, where the nurse found his heart rate to be extremely high. He was put into an Uber and sent to the nearest hospital.
Smart apparently collapsed in the car, and when he woke up, he was in a hospital bed. As he explained his symptoms to the doctor, he saw Dornan roll past in a hospital bed as well. The actor had begun experiencing similar numbness in his limbs shortly after Smart had gone to seek medical attention.
The pair were eventually discharged, with no answers as to what caused the numbness and high heart rates other than perhaps a hangover or a caffeine overdose.
A week later, Smart said he received a phone call from the doctor who had looked after them. The physician had a strange question to ask: Did you come into contact with any caterpillars while golfing?
Apparently, a species of toxic caterpillar known as the processionary caterpillar lives on golf courses in southern Portugal. The caterpillars move in groups, which gives them their name. The hair on the caterpillars contains an irritant chemical, thaumetopoein, that has been known to kill dogs and cause serious health problems in humans—such as rashes, difficulty breathing, and allergic reactions—who come into contact with them.
Dornan himself has yet to comment about the health scare.
