McDonald’s Customers Stepped Over Disabled Man Choking To Death, An Inquiry Heard
While a man in a wheelchair was choking to death, other customers stepped over his dying body to reach the counter, a court heard.
Gloucestershire Coroners Court heard that - despite efforts by three people to dislodge the food stuck in the man’s throat - he suffocated, reports the Telegraph.
CCTV footage at the Cheltenham branch showed that Mike Ore, 47, was left struggling on the floor for three minutes before people attempted to help him. Mr Ore, who suffered from spina bifida, had collapsed to floor out off his wheelchair.
Fellow Customer Johnny Langden told the inquest: ‘I was standing in a queue at McDonald's with my family when I saw this man in a wheelchair clearly in distress.
‘I and two ladies went to his assistance and tried to remove the food from his mouth, but he had turned purple in colour and I realised that he was dying.
‘I could not believe it, but some customers stepped over his body to get to the counter.’
Coroner David Dooley told the inquest that people didn’t seem to notice Mr Ore’s distress ‘until it was too late’.
He said: ‘The deceased has spina bifida, gout and alcohol problems. He was also a heavy smoker. A ball of food had lodged in his oesophagus and caused a blockage.
‘A toxicology report revealed a high level of alcohol in his blood and urine and his lungs were congested.
‘One of the effects of excessive alcohol can be a loss of co-ordination and an impairment of the swallowing reflex. Choking can result.’
The coroner ruled that Mr Ore’s death on July 8 was accidental
