A Lancashire teenager who had to have her stomach removed after drinking a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen has spoken about her ordeal.
Gaby Scanlon, from Heysham, near Morecambe, was celebrating her 18th birthday with friends at Oscar’s wine bar and bistro in Lancaster on October 4 when she drank two shots of the liqueur Jagermeister, which was laced with liquid nitrogen.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Miss Scanlon explained that everything was fine after the first drink, but the moment she drank the second she felt “excruciating pain”.
She told the newspaper: “I’d been warned by the barman the drink might make me a bit gassy, so I didn’t think too much of it, but then my stomach started to expand and I felt sick.”
Miss Scanlon was taken to Lancaster Royal Infirmary by friends, and a CT scan found a large perforation in her stomach.
The damage was so bad doctors had no choice but to remove her stomach and connect her oesophagus directly to her small bowel.
Miss Scanlon, an A-level pupil at Ripley St Thomas Academy in Lancaster, spent three weeks in hospital. She is now severely limited in what she can eat and faces a life on vitamin supplements and liquid replacement meals.
She and her family are considering making a civil claim against the bar for compensation.
She told the Mail: “I feel angry that these theatrical cocktails seem to be aimed at younger people, especially 18-year-olds who are just legally able to drink and want to go out and try these things, but it’s not worth it.”
She added: “I try to stay strong. I’m an optimistic person. It could have been very much worse and I’m very grateful to be alive, but it should never have happened in the first place.”
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