According to the New York Post, an 83-year-old lady died and her husband went into a coma after eating a puffer fish in Malaysia. According to the report, the elderly couple’s daughter said the man had bought the fish from a local shop and didn’t check the quality since he had been buying from the same shop for a long time.
“My parents have been buying fish from the same fishmonger for many years, so my father did not think twice about it. He would not have knowingly bought something so deadly to eat and put their lives in danger,” New York Post quoted their daughter, Ng Ai Lee, as saying.
According to the report, after having the fish for lunch, the woman, identified as Lim Siew Guan, began to shiver and experience breathing difficulties. Her husband also started showing similar symptoms about an hour later.
Their son rushed them to the hospital, where the lady was pronounced dead. Her spouse is in a coma and being treated at the Intensive Care Unit. (ICU).
According to Newsweek, the cause of death was “food poisoning with neurological manifestations resulting in respiratory failure with cardiac dysrhythmia possibly due to ingestion of ciguatera toxin or tetrodotoxin.”
“I’m bracing myself for the worst because the doctor told us that even if he survives, he might not be the same because of his age,” their daughter said.
According to the report, the District Health Office (PDK) collected all fish sold on that date for examination.
It is to be noted that puffer fish, which is a popular delicacy in Japan, may contain the potent and deadly toxins tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin, that cannot be destroyed even by cooking or freezing. Usually, only highly qualified chefs, who have been trained in how to remove these toxins, are allowed to serve the fish.