Woman dies after eating poisonous mushroom

A woman from Somerset, who is a mother of four, has died after eating deadly mushroom she picked from her garden.

08:36 13 May 2013

A 57-year-old mother from Somerset has died of multiple organ failure after eating deadly mushroom she picked from her garden.

According to reports, Mrs Christina Hale picked the mushroom, which looked like the edible ones, and mixed them into her soup which she shared with her husband. The husband, who ate a small amount was taken to the hospital but survived.

Meanwhile, the woman, who is a mother of four, did not survive and died due to multiple organ failure.

Based on the police report, she and her husband started feeling ill after they ate the mushroom soup. They were taken to the hospital. Mrs Hale was initially misdiagnosed with norovirus and died the next day.

However, the coroner has concluded that no treatment could have saved her from death as the mushroom she ate was deadly. The fungus, Amanita phalloides, is one of the most lethal of all toxins and is one of the leading reasons of death in humans from mushroom poisoning.

 

West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose, who recorded a verdict of misadventure, said: ‘One should never pick mushrooms, particularly under trees, unless you know exactly what you are picking.

 

'The problem with this mushroom is that if you do taste it, it does not taste unpleasant.’