ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) – A Tampa woman is suing the iconic Don Cesar hotel, claiming a server put liquid nitrogen in her water, severely freezing her insides.
In November, Stacey Wagers celebrated her 45th birthday at the “Don.” According to the complaint, a waiter added something to another guest’s dessert to make it smoke. The woman alleges in her suit that the waiter then added the same liquid to her and a friend’s water.
The complaint says Wagers became ill moments after taking a sip and ended up in the intensive care unit as doctors had to remove her gall bladder and part of her stomach.
When customers order ice cream at the “Sub-Zero” shop in St. Petersburg. Workers flash freeze the ingredients with super cold, liquid nitrogen the finished product showing no trace of it.
“It’s absolutely safe. We use it to make ice cream but we never give our customers anything containing liquid nitrogen. That would not be safe to do,” said shop owner Gene Tulman.
Tulman knows what he’s talking about. He owns the store,
along with his wife, and is also the anesthesiologist who treated Stacey Wagers.
“It was her birthday. She was celebrating with one of her long-time girlfriends” said Attorney, Adam Brum with Morgan and Morgan. “They drink it back and in seconds, Stacey starts to feel pain in her stomach and just exasperating pain, terrible pain,” said Brum.
Used right, nitrogen is useful. The ice cream man, who is also an anesthesiologist, knows it can also be dangerous.
“You can have burns to your mouth, to your esophagus, to your stomach and so on and so forth,” said Tulman.
Stacey Wagers’ attorney said she faces lifelong problems with digestion.
No one from the Don Cesar has responded to our phone calls.
