An Ohio woman discovered her new home was slowly killing her after posting her ‘ugly’ selfies online.
Sara Smith and her husband, Colin, moved into their dream home in Columbus in April 2024 after saving up for four years.
But just two days after moving in, the 28-year-old began suffering severe sinus congestion, which she assumed was just a cold.
Within six months, however, Smith’s eyelids and skin surrounding her eye turned pink before becoming itchy and starting to bleed.
She said: ‘Whenever I worked out the sweat would make it burn so badly. Any type of face wash on it would be the most terrible experience ever.’
Baffled by the bizarre symptoms, the procurement analyst posted videos on TikTok about her condition, which led users to warn her it may have been caused by mold.
A home investigation revealed hidden water damage in nearly every room of the house that was causing the mold, with the biggest stain lurking under a piece of carpet in the bedroom.
Mold spores have been shown to trigger severe allergic reactions in about five to 10 percent of the population, leading to some of the symptoms Smith was experiencing, such as skin and eye irritation, congestion and respiratory issues.
Sara and Colin Smith (pictured here) purchased their dream home last year. However, it led to bizarre symptoms
Smith, pictured here, would post ‘ugly’ selfies like this on social media, which led users to warn her of mold exposure
While rarely deadly, mold allergies can be fatal in people who are already immunocompromised or have respiratory conditions like asthma.
Her husband, meanwhile, had no symptoms.
Doctors told her she was just experiencing a cold or eczema, a skin condition that causes dry, itchy and inflamed skin.
Smith claims the mold caused her to ‘look ugly’ in photos, triggering anxiety and depression that stopped her from seeing friends.
She said: ‘I thought I would post and see if people have any tips. TikTok told me to get out of there.
‘It really saved my life. If it wasn’t for them commenting, I would still believe it was some internal eczema thing.’
Though the home underwent inspection before the Smiths moved in, mold was only visible in the basement. It’s unclear if they fixed this before moving in.
However, a mold dog later sniffed it out in almost every room.
Dogs have extremely strong senses of smell, about 100,000 times more powerful than humans, which helps them detect contaminants like mold that are otherwise hidden.
Smith said: ‘The ones that were causing the most issues were stuck between insulation and you couldn’t spot it.
‘The biggest one that was hidden was under the carpet. My husband ripped off the carpet in the bedroom and it was covered in mold. [At some point someone] painted the ceiling white where the water damage was.’
Pictured above is a close-up of the mold in the Smiths’ home
Smith, pictured here, has since recovered, but the family is raising money to rid their home of the mold
The spores even seeped into her electronics, forcing the couple to get rid of ’90 percent’ of their items.
While mold can cause allergic reactions, it does not make most people severely ill or cause death.
But for those with weakened immune systems, it may cause mycosis, a fungal infection throughout the body that leads to fatigue, muscle aches, chest pain, weight loss and asthma-like symptoms.
Symptoms of an allergic reaction to mold include skin and eye irritation, congestion and respiratory issues.
Smith’s eyes healed within two weeks of moving out of the house, though she experiences flare-ups whenever she returns to the house to move her belongings.
The couple now lives between both of their parents’ houses while trying to remove the mold and make repairs.
Smith said: ‘It has been super stressful, especially for a marriage. Living under our parents’ roof has been really hard.’
The couple have been saddled with a $10,000 bill to remove the mold. They are raising money via GoFundMe.
Smith said: ‘I’m so depressed. There has been a lot in my head. Whenever I think of the house, it used to bring me so much joy.
‘Now I think of it with such disdain, it makes me sick.’
