Elderly man dies after choking on meat in pub

A man died after choking on a piece of meat, an inquest has found.

Yukio Nishigaki, 83, from Evesham swallowed it while having lunch at a local pub.

The inquest heard the first paramedic on the scene should have used an instrument to check his airway before pushing in a tube.

But a consultant said even if the correct equipment had been used, it would have been difficult to remove the meat in time.

The inquest concluded it was an accidental death and the mistake was not the cause of Mr Nishigaki's death.

The meat was eventually removed by an ambulance paramedic, who arrived at the scene later, the hearing was told.

Daughter-in-law Emma Nishigaki said the family was frustrated there had been no ambulance on duty based in Evesham that day.

An investigation carried out by West Midlands Ambulance Service found it had taken 16-17 minutes to provide appropriate treatment.

It also found the instrument needed to check Mr Nishigaki's airway had been in the paramedic's kit bag, but he had failed to find it.

In a statement, the ambulance service said it had implemented a number of recommendations made by the internal investigation "to prevent future incidents like this happening again".

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