An elderly woman in Pahang was reported to have been a victim of the sweet killer, onde onde after having difficulty in swallowing it during a breakfast with her family.
According to Kosmo, the incident happened on Monday (26 July) in Kampung Lentang, Pahang.
Lipis district police chief, Supt Azli Mohd Noor said that the victim is identified as 82 year-old Meriam Abdul Rafar.
He explains that the incident happened when she was chewing the onde onde during her breakfast with her son, where she suddenly choked on the kuih.
Her son was then shocked to see his mother’s situation and he quickly contacted a health official at the clinic in the village for emergency help.
They rushed to the hospital, carrying the elderly woman along but it was all too late and she was pronounced dead at 11 a.m.
The similar incident had once happened in Singapore in 2016, which the state coroner Marvin Bay advised the public to be extra caution when it comes to feeding glutinous, lump-sized, or malleable food items to the elderly, or even children.
“Sensible precautions to consider would include cutting the onde onde into smaller pieces, rather than be proffered an en-bloc serving of an entire onde onde on a napkin as was the case here.” Marvin said, cited by The Straits Times.
In addition, he also stressed the importance that providing water at hand, to lubricate the passage of food to the digestive tract and this is especially important for individuals with impaired salivation ability.
When food is stuck in the airway, the person will be choked and unable to breath. If the food is not extricable in time, it may cause the person to suffer from permanent brain injury or even death.
