Doctors in the U.K. have been forced to remove the stomach of an 18-year-old woman after she drank a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen.
Gaby Scanlon, from Heysham in Lancaster, was celebrating her 18th birthday at a bar last Thursday when she drank the cocktail.
She began to feel breathless and developed severe stomach pains before being brought to Lancaster Royal Infirmary at about 11pm where she was diagnosed with a perforated stomach.
Doctors were then forced to perform an emergency operation to remove her stomach in order to save her life.
Lancashire Police said the bar has now stopped selling the cocktail following last week’s incident, and that an investigation is underway.
A police spokesperson said: “The investigation is still in its early stages and we are still interviewing witnesses to establish the full facts.
“The premises involved have fully cooperated with all agencies and have suspended drinks involving liquid nitrogen.”
Liquid nitrogen is a liquefied gas which vaporises at -196C and has recently become a popular method to flash freeze foods in kitchens. It also creates a cloud of vapour ‘smoke’, which can make cocktails attractive.
However, it should only ever be used to chill glasses or freeze ingredients as it can cause rapid cold damage to flesh and tissue or lethal internal damage when ingested.