New surveillance video shows the moment a sip of ice tea left one woman fighting for her life. INSIDE EDITION has the frightening story.
Just-released surveillance footage showed a woman as she was about to take a fateful sip of iced tea. She sipped it through a straw and a second later, she doubled over in agony.
The surveillance video shows exactly what happened when Jan Harding drank the toxic tea at a Dickey's Barbecue Pit restaurant near Salt Lake City right after Sunday church.
Her husband, Jim, told INSIDE EDITION, “She was hanging over the trash, gagging and choking and coughing and spitting.”
The video shows how, after her first sip, Jan frantically tried to wash her mouth out with water. It must have been the worst moment of her life. She did not know that the tea has been tainted with Lye.
In the video her husband realized something was terribly wrong.
He said, “I went to her and said what's wrong and she said, ‘I think I just drank acid.’”
How could such a thing happen?
The new surveillance video shows a restaurant worker scooping out a white powder into another container before mixing it with the tea. He thought it was just sugar, but it turned out to be mixed with Lye, which is used as a cleaning solvent.
Jan's son, Scott, can't believe how this could have happened. He told INSIDE EDITION, "Shame on them for not having process and procedures to protect the people that come in when they do business."
Jan suffered serious burns to her esophagus from the August 10 mishap, all from a single sip of iced tea.
The family had considered suing the restaurant, but instead, they are trying to reach a settlement with them.
