A Hong Kong couple with a passion for making their own herbal medicine had to be treated in hospital after eating an herb they found in the wild.

The wife, 66, had come down with a cold, so the husband went out collecting herbs near a mountain. He boiled the herbs into a soup, which he gave his wife on Sunday. He also ate some as a preventive measure.

His wife fell unconscious soon afterwards. The husband called an ambulance for her and also had to be admitted to hospital for discomfort. Traditional Chinese medicine doctors said the herbs were not poisonous, but could cause harmful side effects if combined with other medication.

(Wen Wei Po)