Man almost dies after ordering coffee at McDonald's
A paramedic nearly died after suffering a severe allergic reaction to dairy after he was mistakenly served a hot chocolate instead of black coffee at McDonald’s.
George Brown, 22, was handed the wrong drink despite carefully selecting a milk-free beverage at the Manchester Piccadilly Gardens fast food restaurant in England.
Mr Brown, who has a severe lactose allergy, spat the warm liquid straight out but his tongue started to swell and his chest began to tighten, according to The Sun.
Mr Brown told the publication the mistake could have easily cost him his life.
“A reaction like this can narrow your airways to the point where you can’t breathe — respiratory arrest — and then the heart stops — cardiac arrest — which means death,” he said.
“That’s the severe level it could have gone to. I could have died.”
Fortunately he was on duty at the time and his colleague knew exactly what to do - he administered nebulised medication and an antihistamine for the swelling.
He also called on a rapid response car, which transported Mr Brown straight to Manchester Royal Infirmary where he lost consciousness shortly after arriving.
The restaurant apologised for the mishap, describing it as “simply not good enough”, and offered Mr Brown reimbursement in the form of free food.
The chain said it would be training its staff in allergen awareness following the incident.
After emailing the branch, Mr Branch was invited back for a free black coffee and breakfast.
He was also offered meal vouchers after making contact with customer services.
A statement from the restaurant said its mistake was “unacceptable”, The Sun reported.
“We absolutely recognise that this mistake was unacceptable and sincerely apologise to the customer in question.
“This was simply not good enough. We have a number of procedures in place to avoid inaccurate orders, but In this case these were clearly not followed.
“The incident was fully investigated and the restaurant team have undergone specific additional training to ensure a mistake like this is not made again.”
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