Brazilian Magno Sergio Gomez died after eating a puffer fish with enough poison to kill 30 people, the New York Post reports.
According to the portal, Manya was given the fish by his friend. Together they cut up the pufferfish and ate it. After this, the men felt numbness in their mouths, and a few minutes later their condition deteriorated sharply to such an extent that they required urgent hospitalization.
In the hospital, Magnier’s heart stopped for eight minutes.
“The man suffered from exposure to tetrodotoxin, an extremely potent poison that accumulates in the liver and gonads of puffer fish,” the US Centers for Disease Control said.
The toxin puffer fish use to deter predators is more than 1,000 times more lethal than cyanide. There is no antidote for it. When ingested, the poison blocks the channels between the body and the brain, affecting the nervous system. As a result, paralysis occurs, and the lungs and heart fail, which leads to death.
Despite the disappointing forecasts, doctors connected the Brazilian to a life support system and fought for his life to the last. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain. The poison caused fatal damage to the man’s brain, and he died 35 days later.
Manier’s friend, who gave him the puffer fish, miraculously survived, but for him, eating the dangerous delicacy did not pass without a trace — he still walks poorly.
Puffer fish is a delicacy, especially loved in Japan. Gourmets who eat it note that the taste of pufferfish is incomparable to anything else. In this country, this dangerous dish is prepared by specially trained chefs to eliminate the risk of death. Properly cooked fish is believed to have a narcotic effect. The cooks leave in it exactly the amount of poison that will allow you to feel euphoria and slight numbness in the mouth, but will not harm the body.
However, every year 10–20 people in the world die from the poison of puffer fish — these are people who decide to cook the delicacy themselves at home.