TRAGIC

Vegetarian Choked to Death After Having to ‘Eat Around’ Meat on Plane, Lawsuit Says

The vegetarian choked after allegedly being told to “eat around” the meat of a non-vegetarian meal.

Asoka Jayaweera, an 85-year-old California cardiologist, allegedly choked to death in August 2023 due to food served to him on a Qatar Airways flight. In a wrongful death lawsuit, Jayaweera’s son Surya claims that his father requested a vegetarian meal for his Aug. 1 flight from Los Angeles to Doha, Qatar, but was informed none were available. Instead, he was allegedly instructed to “eat around” the meat when he quickly “began choking on the meal.” The complaint alleges that flight crew members claimed an emergency landing wasn’t available as they were “traveling over the Arctic Circle/Ocean,” however, Surya argues that at the time of the choking, the plane was actually flying over Wisconsin. Instead, the flight crew called MedAire, a service that has ER doctors guide flight crew through emergencies. Jayaweera was provided oxygen, however, he lost consciousness. Eight hours later, the plane landed in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Jayaweera was brought to the hospital, where he died two days later due to aspiration pneumonia, caused by unintentionally consuming food or drink into the lungs. Surya has requested damages at the statutory minimum amount of $128,821 due to wrongful death and negligence. Qatar Airways did not respond immediately to request for comment.