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Florida woman whose gallbladder and part of stomach were removed after being served liquid nitrogen by waiter sues hotel

The woman, identified as 45-year-old Stacey Wagers, was celebrating her birthday with a friend when the incident occurred.
UPDATED MAR 6, 2020
(Source : Getty Images)
(Source : Getty Images)

A woman in Florida is suing a hotel after drinking liquid nitrogen that a waiter poured into her glass, and which resulted in her getting her gallbladder and part of her stomach removed.

The woman, identified as 45-year-old Stacey Wagers, was celebrating her birthday with a friend at Don Cesar Hotel's Maritana Grille restaurant in St. Pete Beach on November 18 last year at the time of the incident.

Wagers said that she and her friend had just finished eating when they saw a waiter pouring a liquid substance over a dessert that made it "smoke" at a table nearby. When her friend told the waiter that the smokey effect looked cool, he allegedly poured what turned out to be liquid nitrogen, a freezing agent, into the women's water glasses, NBC News reported.

"Of course I didn't think it was dangerous at all," Wagers told the outlet, noting that the waiter had "just poured it on a dessert." However, Wagers started feeling sick as soon as she drank the liquid.

"There was an explosion in my chest," Wagers said, adding that she was unable to speak at the time and it felt like she was dying. She was rushed to the hospital where doctors had to remove her gallbladder and portions of her stomach which had been burned by the liquid nitrogen. Reports state that she had to stay in the ICU for multiple days as a result.

Wagers' lawyer, Adam Brum, told the outlet that ever since the incident, his client has lost over 25 pounds and is expected to have lifelong digestion issues. Wagers' lawsuit states that the hotel and its employees "should have known that drinking the liquid nitrogen was dangerous" and that Wagers "was completely unaware of the danger of drinking the liquid nitrogen poured into her glass by the waiter."

"You're not supposed to just pour it in someone's drink and allow them to just take a big gulp of this," Brum said, adding that the hotel should have trained its employees to warn customers about the possible dangers of ingesting liquid nitrogen. 

The FDA has warned that liquid nitrogen can be extremely dangerous if consumed. "Both liquid nitrogen and dry ice can cause severe damage to skin and internal organs if mishandled or accidently ingested due to the extremely low temperatures they can maintain," the FDA has said. "As such, liquid nitrogen and dry ice should not be directly consumed or allowed to directly contact exposed skin."

The hotel is yet to respond to the lawsuit.

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