Student choked to death on a piece of chicken but alcohol is implicated in the cause of death

A University fashion student died after choking on a piece of chicken while celebrating her 21st birthday, an inquest heard.
Narinthorn Alexander was found unconscious in a locked toilet at a central London restaurant after drinking half-a-bottle of Jack Daniels.

 

The student had also shared some Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky with seven pals at Thai Tho restaurant and karaoke bar in Soho, the inquest heard.

Several hours after arriving at the eaterie friends discovered the University of West London student with a pale face and blue lips having thrown up and collapsed in a locked toilet, the hearing was told.

A piece of chicken had become trapped in her throat – blocking oxygen to her brain and causing devastating brain damage, St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard. She had been celebrating her birthday in Match this year after turning 21 two days earlier, the inquest heard.

 

 

A friend told the inquest:

“None of us had eaten all day. We ordered food which took around an hour, we ordered some drinks and my friend had rose wine between us and the others were drinking Jack Daniels and coke. They started doing shots and went through a whole bottle.”

 

Narinthorn, who was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and was studying fashion and textiles at the university, was later found in the toilet by friends who called an ambulance. But she only received First Aid treatment when police arrived because none of the staff were trained and the waiter who opened the locked toilet door didn’t know how to call an ambulance, the inquest heard.

Paramedic Jayden Hedt, who was in the ambulance, told the inquest:

“We arrived and saw the patient lying in the recovery position with the police in attendance. From there we tried to get history about what had happened, but all we know is that she drank half-a-bottle of Jack Daniels.
“Someone said she went upstairs to the toilet and had collapsed, she was unresponsive and very pale. I started chest compressions and we decided we needed to have a good look at her airway. From there we used forceps and from what we could gather it was quite large chunks of chicken, enough to cause a significant airways obstruction.”

 

The chicken caused a hypoxic brain injury and a cardiac arrest on her way to University College London Hospital, the inquest heard. She remained unresponsive in a coma for six days before being declared brain dead and her life support machine was switched off, the hearing was told.

 

Coroner Mary Hassel concluded that the student’s collapse on March 11 could not have been prevented as it was a result of her drinking too much. Her best friend told the inquest :

“She was funny and loved to have a laugh. “We had a few drinks and had fun. “She was a very nice friendly girl, she always made you laugh, she had a great personality, she was one of my best friends. I didn’t think she was drinking that much, just Jack Daniels with mixers and having a good time.
“When the food did arrive she did have a tiny bit to eat. She was starting to feel a bit tipsy. It got to the point where she came over and whispered in my ear and said ‘I’m going to the toilet, I will be right back. I’m not sure how long she disappeared for.”Later her boyfriend came downstairs and told me that Narinthorn was sick upstairs and she had passed out. “When I went into the toilet I found her unconscious on the floor. She was not responding at all I had never seen her like that. “Her friend was holding her head up, she was lying with her head back, I was shaking her trying to wake her up. It was really scary. Her face was pale and her lips were blue and her eyes were half open, you could only see the white bit.”

 

Cause of death was given as a hypoxic brain injury, hypoxic cardiac arrest, asphyxiation vomitus and alcohol toxicity. Coroner Mary Elizabeth Hassel said:

“All of the evidence points in the same direction, Narinthorn went out with friends and she just wanted to have a nice evening. She drank alcohol which had been bought from the restaurant and also drank alcohol which the group had brought with them, she drank too much. Her friends did not notice that she had drunk significantly more than on other occasions until she had been found in the toilet. She was already hypoxic and had already suffered a lack of oxygen to her blood supply. She had vomited and choked on her vomit and because of her asphyxiation she was not able to clear her own airways. She had a lack of oxygen to the brain that caused brain damage that was unrecoverable.”I wanted to explore the role of the restaurant staff, Narinthorn’s parents wrote to me and were concerned about rumours they had heard about restaurant staff. It seems to me that there were two things going on here, it seems to me that any organisation which deals with the public should at least make sure that staff know how to call an ambulance. But that did not make any difference at all to Narinthorn and her friends called an ambulance and it was her friends who realised how ill she was.

“What underlies all of this is alcohol I’m afraid.

“Her death was alcohol related.”

 

The Sun