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Scanlon is currently in serious but stable condition, local police said in a statement over the weekend.
"Medical opinion is that this would have proved fatal had the operation not been carried out urgently," police said.
When exposed to air, liquid nitrogen creates a dense fog and is used by bartenders and chefs to add an element of visual drama to dishes or to freeze things quickly, such as ice cream.
It is also used for removing warts and has industrial uses. Contact with flesh can cause cryogenic burn or "frostbite".
Professor of food physics at Leeds University Malcolm Povey said liquid nitrogen should not be consumed while still liquid, as it turns into a gas inside the body and causes the stomach to swell and burst.
"The liquid nitrogen would rapidly change into gas and blow the stomach up like a balloon...the idea that people put this stuff in drinks is just unbelievable," Povey told Reuters.
The bar which served the drink has stopped selling all liquid nitrogen drinks, said police, who are investigating the incident.
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Is it me or is this new generation absolutely f__king stupid! OK parents it's time to round up all your little sex trophies and explain the world to these idiots. These nimrods aren't learning anything in school and the older kids who sell dope aren't helping them with life's answers either.
My sentiments exactly. It is a scary thought that this generation will be our leaders in a few years!!
And here come the cryogenic drink damage lawyers.
The fascination with exotic drinks is something I have never understood. A shot of something alcoholic straight up is the way it ought to go down.
I did have a very tasty ginger martini once.
That used to be true, but when straight started costing almost the same as mixed in some places, then it can be more worth it just to get the exotic drink.
Holy fu#$ing @!$%#!!! I've been loyal to my ganja since the 70's. Never have I had a problem, (nor do 99.9% of those that "partake"). Legalize it and many of these folks will never get involved with these other things.
Crazy... stick with what's natural. And by the way, alcohol isn't natural either.
S. cerevisiae is happy to ferment in the absence of oxygen and generate ethanol as a byproduct.
Quite natural.
However, picking leaves of a plant, drying them, then rolling them into a joint and lighting them might be about as natural as deliberately leaving S. cerevisiae in an airtight container with either barley and hops or rye or mashed grapes and letting it sit for a while until the alcohol content is appropriate to give you a buzz. Then there's /distillation/ to make stronger alcoholic products, and well..
Man makes liquor
Nature makes pot
Nature is perfect
Man is not
Nature will ferment grapes left on the vine. And humans are not the sole animals seeking inebriation. In northern Calif. it has been found that some species of birds will eat the grapes to the point of falling drunk in the fields. (And other cases of willful animal intoxication exist . . .)
Ugh. And here I though Fernet Branca was awful.
I'm still trying to grasp just what would inspire a bar to serve these- or any customer to drink them.
It seems likely that it's going to cost the owner a lot of money; stupidity has a way of catching up with you when you inflict it on the public like this.
I have seen similar idiocies over the course of my life- I once watched a bar patron attempt to consume flaming Bacardi 151- and set their beard on fire.
The resulting burns (and bruises- he tried to beat the fire out) were substantial, if not life-threatening.
I didn't have much sympathy- though I do feel for this kid- who clearly had no idea what they were drinking.
I have also seen people eat fugu- blowfish sashimi- which, if improperly prepared, can kill in minutes.
Finally, there are those who build their own flying machines or cannon- and then personally test them.
But....liquid nitrogen?
In a drink?
Hard to imagine that....it's really, really cold.
Worse, I think it has a pressure of vaporization approaching 18,000 atmospheres.
In short, there are very few canisters that can hold it without a pressure relief valve that allows it to slowly boil away- and I'm not sure anyone could belch that fast or that frequently.
If I ever see anyone else trying to drink it- especially after this incident- I intend to step back with alacrity.
I cannot believe I'm looking at a debate over who is responsible. This individual, no matter how much empathy we need to show her, was totally responsible for what goes in her mouth. It was totally stupid!
a brief moment of fun and daring results to a lifetime of agony. Entertainment nowadays requires endangering one's safety. That is not what fun used to be.
Too bad they saved her. Now she's still polluting the gene pool.
So what is the long term prognosis for a girl with no stomach? Will she be on IV's for the rest of her life or can they do stomach transplants?
So at this point, with no stomach, how will she get nutrition? TPN?
Without a stomach, she will have to eat small amounts of highly nutritious food, often in liquid form, every couple of hours so the nutrients can be absorbed directly by her small intestine. It is a challenge and will forever change her life.
Well, this one proved to be a real rocket scientist! Now she can look forward to pissing into a bag and having to drain it off several times a day. Next thing you know they will be using jet fuel to make drinks and without question there will be people out there stupid enough to drink them. I mind is a horrible thing ti waste. For that matter some of the DNA running in the blood of some of these morons should be used to fertilize corn crops in South America.
A few months ago an 18 yr old teenager I know was cleaning out his grandpa's shed and found an unlabeled jar with a clear liquid inside. He thought it was moonshine and drank it. It was jet fuel. He spent quite a while in intensive care and almost died. He still suffers some brain damage. Kids today are always looking for a new thrill and are willing to try anything to get it. I have no sympathy for such ignorance.
Next week on the Food Networks "Chopped":
$10,000 is at stake... who will win?
Stupid is as stupid does
This would be a good time to reduce--if not end entirely--the trend of goofey and pretentious practices of attemping to make alcohol seem more sophisitcated than it actually is.
If you want to get tipsy or drunk, you can do so without a plethora of gimmicks. I doubt there was enough cash in the tip jar to pay for one dinner, no less to pay the costs of this young woman's permanent medical problems.
In 1965, when I was 6 years old, we used to have people come to the auditorium and provide science lessons. I think we paid 10 cents for these classes.
The one I remember the most was a guy who gave a demonstration on liquid gasses. He took rubber balls, hot dogs and anything else and lowered them into the liquid. After a short while he would take them out and either drop them or smack them on the table. All of them shattered into a thousand pieces.
Then he took a beaker of liquid oxygen and with a lit cigar, held it over the beaker and exhaled. He turned the cigar into a "blow torch" and was able to cut screen wire with it. Yes.....1965!
Anyone remember the movie Terminator when the "droid" was hit by a tanker truck carrying refrigerated liquid (I assume nitrogen as it didn't explode) He shattered into a thousand bits as well. Think twice the next time you see a nitrogen gas truck pass you.
This is so cool. Did she look pregnant?
18 is not a teenager. 18 is an adult. People who drink liquid nitrogen are just asking to be removed from the gene pool.
Legally, 18 is an adult age. Anyone with any understanding knows that the development, physically or mentally, does not always follow.
Just when you thought the world couldn't get any more stupid, you read about people drinking crap like this or serving it.
You mean her stomach was permanently removed? If so, how horrible for her, is going to be difficult to live without. Her life has just been changed big time. I too smell major lawsuit.
Worked with liquid nitrogen in the past. Would never do this as a gag/special effect in a drink. Far too dangerous.
Establishments should not serve patrons anything involving liquid nitrogen. It's fine to do it as a demo experiment where people are watching, or if you want to have special effects confined BEHIND the serving area, but not where people can consume it. She is lucky to be alive.
I can't believe all the "Darwin" comments I keep reading.... This girl didn't do anything stupid, she drank something that many of people have consumed. Putting dry ice in a drink is nothing new. I remember in 1st grade we had a Halloween party and the punch had dry ice in it, maybe I need a Darwin award for trusting the teacher who handed it to me.
Dear Friends:
Boy this is scary stuff! So too the Meningitis disease and out breaks! So too Romney using Palin to tell woman and men who and how to vote! Subliminal messaging is illegal! Even in elections! Save the Birds and jobs and freedom of speech! Save PBS from Romney!
Romney is like the Avenger Satanic deceiver and murderer! We want the American Heroes! Vote Obama and Biden.
Come to think of it! So too is Mormonism as a part of our government! Freedom of Religion! Choices!
Bow down not to Satin! Nor Romney!
I'll never bow down to Satin. Too slippery.
What the heck happened to kids just sneaking a joint? Kids these days will ingest anything. When meth is a safter alternative to what you're taking, you should just consider yourself too stupid to make intelligent choices for yourself.
WTF.. is she going to do without a stomach!?Never heard of a person getting their whole stomach removed before..