A SUPERMARKET has coughed up £1,250 in compensation to a woman after a prawn shell lodged in her throat.

Jo McDonagh, of Paddington, bought a bag of frozen peeled prawns which she used to make a sandwich.

The 35-year-old mum was rushed to hospital after she was unable to swallow a piece of shell. An ENT specialist sprayed her throat with local anaesthetic but couldn't remove the obstruction and she was admitted the following day for an operation under general anaesthetic.

Said Jo: "It was like having a piece of glass stuck in my throat. After it happened I gargled and tried eating something else to dislodge it.

"The hospital treatment was very traumatic, I was wide awake while they stuck a laryngoscope down my throat. I was really retching."

And Jo's admission to hospital meant she had to miss her brother-in-law's wedding.

Jo says she was given no indication that the bag of prawns may contain shells. "We looked on the bag for a warning," she added, "but it didn't say anything."

It was a condition of the cash settlement that the supermarket would not be identified.

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