Bride rushed to hospital after choking on curry

ACOUPLE’S honeymoon almost ended in tragedy when the newlywed bride choked on her chicken curry.

Alyson and James Townley, from Cheshire, were celebrating their honeymoon on Tresco in the Scillies when the terrifying episode occured.

Alyson, 56, ended up in hospital after choking on a piece of chicken in her ready meal tikka masala just two days after getting married.

Her husband, James, 33, dislodged the food with a sharp slap on Alyson’s back when she began struggling for breath as they enjoyed a romantic dinner in their holiday cottage.

But Alyson was still struggling so James, a business development manager, dialled 999 and first responders arrived at the scene within five minutes.

They found Alyson’s oxygen levels had dropped and so a helicopter was despatched and she was flown to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, with James left on the island due to coronavirus restrictions.

The choking had caused her throat to spasm and block and Alyson had blood tests and x-rays to check her lungs and she was discharged the next day.

Despite surviving her ordeal she was then left stranded on the mainland for two days due poor weather - before finally being reunited with James to enjoy what was left of their honeymoon.

Financial controller Alyson, from Middlewhich, Cheshire, said: “It was literally the first mouthful of a chicken curry.

“I was talking and eating at the same time and the chicken suddenly got lodged. It was really scary. I thought I was going to die.

“James rushed to my aid and hit me hard on the back – he managed to whack the chicken out of me - but I was still struggling for air.

“Thankfully paramedics arrived within minutes and rushed me to Tresco heliport to board a helicopter to hospital.

“After being checked over, I was allowed to go, but the bad weather and lack of transport on the Sunday left me stranded on the mainland – away from my husband – for two days.

“It wasn’t quite the honeymoon we had in mind, but I’m just relieved I lived to tell the tale.”

James had no choice but to stay behind on the island as Alyson was rushed into the helicopter. “I waved her off from the heliport and I said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’,” James said. “We had no idea then that she would be separated for two days.”

Alyson left hospital on a Sunday morning with a piece of paper containing instructions of how to get back to Tresco - 60 miles away, including a stretch of sea to navigate.

“I was basically chucked out of the hospital and had to walk to Truro station to get a train to Penzance,” she said.

Still wearing the same clothes from the night before, she arrived in Penzance to find the weather too bad to cross. “There was no way of getting over so I had to find somewhere to stay for the night,” she said.

James added: “I was back on the island with no way to get my wife back. It was very surreal, I was just constantly trying to find a way to get Alyson back.”

She was eventually reunited with her husband on the Tuesday morning. “We certainly won’t be forgetting our honeymoon anytime soon,” Alyson said.