A WOMAN died in hospital after choking on a large prawn, an inquest heard yesterday.

Sri Lankan-born Thaiyalnayaki Sivasomasundram, 80, was visiting relatives in High Street, Woodstock, in December last year when she began choking on a large prawn from a Chinese takeaway, Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court was told.

The widow, a retired nurse from Wembley, North London, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford following the incident on December 28 and she died on January 2.

Chentoori Chanthirakumar, Mrs Sivasomasundram’s grandaughter, said in a statement that her grandmother was unable to speak after choking and started gasping for breath.

Members of the family tried to remove the food from Mrs Sivasomasundram’s throat and called the ambulance service, but she never recovered and her life support machine was switched off on January 2.

Miss Chanthirakumar added: “My mother tried to get out the remaining food but was unable to get her on her feet.

“I told the ambulance service that I could hear a gurgling sound from her (grandmother’s) throat.

“I checked her pulse and could not find it and the operator guided me to do CPR.”

Dr John Young, consultant in intensive care at the hospital, said the cause of death was cerebral hypoxia as a result of choking on food.

Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter recorded a verdict of accidental death.