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Topics: Animals, World News, Health, Parenting
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Animals, World News, Health, Parenting
A doctor has spoken out after treating a man who swallowed a live crab whole after it bit his daughter.
I can't say my first reaction to something biting me would be to chomp down on it - it definitely wasn't my first thought when a mosquito bit me on holiday.
However, one dad decided eating a live and raw crab was the only way to resolve the situation after the pesky crustacean took a jab at his daughter.
They say revenge tastes sweet, but apparently it's also a bit fishy. Although it is definitely best served cold according to this father...
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The father, identified as Lu, was out in a stream with his daughter when she ended up getting nabbed by a crab.
The 39-year-old from Zhejiang in eastern China was outraged after the crab attack, so much so, he hatched a plan of revenge.
And what better way - apparently - to seek revenge on a crab than swallowing it whole while it's still scuttling about?
I have so many questions. How is this possible? And did Lu swallow the crustacean shell and all?
However, it doesn't really matter how Lu consumed it, because the crab unfortunately ended up having the last laugh.
Two months later, Lu ended up becoming severely sick, according to local media reports.
Lu was reportedly admitted to hospital after suffering from back and abdominal pain.
It was later discovered the father had developed eosinophilic gastroenteritis - a rare digestive disease.
Director of the digestive system department at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, Dr Cao Qian, told Zhejiang Television: "We repeatedly asked him if he had ever eaten game, or anything unusual, anything that could cause allergies. He said, 'No, not at all'."
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However, after being reminded by his wife he had eaten the live crab, Lu revealed he had digested 'something special'.
His reasoning? "I wanted to take revenge for my daughter. When we were by a stream my daughter was pinched by a small crab, so I got angry and put it in my mouth for revenge," Lu reportedly told Dr Qian.
The crab may not be alive anymore, but its memory lives on in the three parasites found in Lu's stomach.
Dr Qian has since spoken out to warn anyone against eating 'completely' raw crab.
You don't have to cook the crustacean if you don't want to, but 'theoretically it's better to eat something marinated than completely raw because it has been treated with alcohol which can help kill parasites and bacteria,' Dr Qian advises.
However, treating the raw crab with alcohol 'can't kill all parasites, so it's not 100 percent safe either'.
Lu has since recovered from the disease.
