Doing shots, downing drinks and powering through pints has become an unfortunate rite of passage for many teens, and we often put dangerous drinking down to quantity not quality. But, for British teen Gaby Scanlon, it was two cocktails on a night out that led to her being rushed to hospital where doctors diagnosed a perforated stomach and performed emergency surgery to save her life.
The 18-year-old had been drinking in her hometown of Lancaster to celebrate her 18th birthday when friends say she started to feel breathless, having consumed two of the bars ‘Pornstar Martini’ cocktails, a lethal mix of Champagne, Jagermeister and liquid nitrogen.
The British teen was rushed to hospital to have her stomach removed
Doctors have speculated that the liquid nitrogen present in the cocktail is to blame. Made famous by Chef Heston Blumenthal for its special effects on food and drink, the highly dangerous chemical can be used to instantly freeze food or create a dramatic cloud like vapour over liquids. However, when it is inhaled or ingested it can freeze parts of the mouth, throat or stomach causing tissue damage and burns.
The bar named as ‘Oscars’ has since removed all cocktails containing the chemical from its bar menu and police say that the investigation into what really happened is still in its early stages.
We’re all partial to a cocktail and love trying unusual ingredients instead of our usual glass of Sav B, but a drink containing a substance that is also used to burn off warts and verucas is not something that should ever have existed in the first place, especially in such an unregulated manner.
