Amanda bites off more than she can chew

Bank clerk lands in hospital after Sainsbury’s chicken sandwich

A ROYTON woman got more than she bargained for when she ended up in hospital after eating a chicken sandwich.

Amanda Treadwell had to spend more than 17 hours in the Manchester Royal Infirmary after she felt stabbing pains in her throat seconds after biting into her lunchtime sandwich.

The 37-year-old, who works in commercial banking, had to be put under a general anaesthetic and have a tube inserted into her throat after nurses struggled to locate the rogue object, thought to be a 1cm long bone.

The drama unfolded when Amanda bought her lunchtime sandwich at the Sainsbury’s local store in Bridge Street, Manchester city centre on Friday.

She said: “I had just swallowed a mouthful of the sandwich when I suddenly started to feel a sharp stabbing in my throat.

“Luckily, I was able to breathe, but the pain wouldn’t go away, so my boss took me to hospital.”

Once there, an x-ray picked up a foreign body in Amanda’s throat, but nurses couldn’t find it with their internal camera.

Doctors had no choice but to operate.

Amanda said: “They told me that it was in danger of piercing my gullet, so they had to get it out quite quickly.”

Once in the operating theatre, doctors discovered that the bone had passed through on its own, but Amanda was left with lacerations in her throat and was not allowed to leave until 9am the next day, more than 17 hours after she had first been admitted.

She said: “I managed to stay quite clam while I was at the hospital, but I’m in agony now.

“They have to tilt your head right back to operate, so all the muscles in the top half of my body are really aching because I had to be placed in such an unnatural position.

“I’m going to get in contact with Sainsbury’s and let them know what’s happened. I was okay, but if this had happened to a child or an older person, it could be really dangerous.

“I want to ensure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “We are waiting for more information from the shopper so we can investigate the matter fully.

“It is important to remember that incidents like this are extremely rare and Sainsbury’s takes every effort to ensure our chicken sandwiches are free from small bones.”