A family-run bar in the United Kingdom has been fined £100,000, or roughly $150,000, after a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen burned a large hole in an 18-year-old woman’s stomach.
Gaby Scanlon, now 20, was served the “Nitro-Jagermeister” shot containing the anise flavored liquor and liquid nitrogen on her 18th birthday at Oscar’s Wine Bar in Lancaster, the BBC reports.
“I turned to the man and asked if it was okay to drink. He said ‘Yes’,” she said. Moments later she knew something was wrong, she told the court. “Smoke was coming from my nose and mouth. Straight away I knew something was not right. My stomach expanded.”
Scanlon spent three weeks in the hospital, where a large hole was found in her stomach. The organ was removed entirely and her esophagus connected directly to her small intestine. Her attorneys say she now suffers from “episodes of agonizing pain” and can no longer enjoy eating.
Cocktails containing liquid nitrogen are legal but can be deadly if the liquid does not completely evaporate before the shot is taken. Liquid nitrogen creates a dramatic cloud of smoke in the glass.
[BBC]
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