Mia Austin: Woman paralysed after stroke died while attempting ‘marshmallow challenge’

A woman with locked-in syndrome choked to death after trying to emulate the “marshmallow challenge” made famous on Love Island.

Mia Austin, from the Wirral in Merseyside, was visiting a holiday park in north Wales when she tried to eat a marshmallow, an inquest in Caernarfon heard.

The 30-year-old had been paralysed and left unable to move or speak after suffering a stroke in 2009.

Ms Austin was apparently inspired by seeing contestants on the ITV reality TV show Love Island, who had competed to see how many marshmallows they could fit in their mouths at once.

While holidaying at the park in Abersoch in June this year, Ms Austin indicated to her mother and carer she wanted to eat a marshmallow.

“Apparently on Love Island they did a marshmallow challenge, you put marshmallows in the mouth. That’s what she wanted to do with two friends,” Carol Austin, Ms Austin’s mother, told the inquest, BBC News reported.

But when she began trying to eat the sweet treat, Ms Austin began choking. “This caused a blockage in her airway and, as she was unable to bring it up, it caused asphyxiation,” said the coroner Dewi Pritchard.

The 30-year-old lost consciousness and although paramedics were called to the scene, they were unable to prevent her from dying.

Mrs Austin had told the inquest her daughter had gradually learned how to eat soft food after the stroke, but had also experienced choking incidents before.

Paramedics had previously been called after she choked on a burger and the family had been given suction equipment to help clear any food stuck in her throat.

Mr Pritchard recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Just one day after the tragic accident, Ms Austin was named Merseyside Woman of the Year.

She had become well known in the region for her charity work after suffering the stroke a decade ago.

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