Ashlei needed strong medication for days when she got home and a doctor explained what had happened

A woman’s holiday turned into a nightmare when sunburn made her face so swollen her own mum didn’t recognise her. Ashlei Bianchi said she looked like ET two days into her trip to the Dominican Republic.

The 23-year-old had spent the afternoon soaking up the Punta Cana sun while relaxing with her family around the pool. But by evening she noticed her forehead and head had swollen.

Despite using suncream, Ashlei thought she had just suffered a mild reaction to the sun. The children’s hospital assistant says she wiped her face with an aloe vera gel and carried on with her trip.

But Ashlei woke up on the final morning of the holiday to find one of her eyes had swollen shut. By the end of the four-day trip, Ashlei’s face had become so puffy that even her own mum, Michelle Bianchi, 52, didn’t recognise her over FaceTime.

Other family members also joked that she looked like alien ET. On the way to the airport, Ashlei feared her drastically changed appearance meant she wouldn’t be able to get through customs.

“I did use sunscreen, but I still got a little red, which was going to happen either way since I’m not used to the sun down there, and we were in the pool all day,” she said. “I FaceTimed my mum, and she said I didn’t even look like myself, then the family I went with said I looked like ET.

“My face started getting worse, and that’s when the swelling on and under my eyes happened. It was definitely a mixture of just laying out and being by the resort all day. One of the pools barely had any shade, so I was more exposed to the rays.

“I had to go on my flight and go through customs looking not like myself, and I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to get back home. I’m so thankful I made it through. I wore my sunglasses the whole trip home, even when it was dark out, because I was so embarrassed.”

Desperate to find relief, Ashlei stopped at a pharmacy at the Dominican airport and bought anti-inflammatory medication. She also reached out to her doctor, who prescribed her an oral steroid – but she couldn’t start treatment until she got home on March 25.

Once home, it took four days of steroids for her face to finally return to normal. Ashlei said: “It wasn’t painful, just more uncomfortable. It hurt when I had to close my eyes all the way.

“When I went to the pharmacy, the lady working had wide eyes and went, ‘Oh my.’ I wore my sunglasses on both my flights and throughout the airport even when it was dark.”

Ashlei says she later learned she had suffered from sun poisoning. She said: “My doctor wasn’t sure if it was sun poisoning, but I work at a hospital and asked a rheumatologist.

“She said it was sun poisoning, so that’s what I have been telling people it is.”

Now fully recovered, Ashlei is sharing her story as a warning about the dangers of sun exposure – even with sunscreen. She said: “I would say the dangers of sun exposure are real. I’m lucky my sun poisoning affected my face and not anything else.

“I had no symptoms besides swelling. It’s very important to use your sunscreen and wear hats. I think that’s where I went wrong. I really should have had something besides sunscreen protecting my face.

“But all in all, the sun is no joke, especially in the Caribbean where it’s much more potent.”