Woman dies after metal drinking straw enters eye, pierces brain

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A woman died after a freak accident involving an eco-friendly straw.

USA Today reports Elena Struthers-Gardner, a retired jockey, died after she collapsed in the kitchen at her home in England in November 2018. This week, authorities announced she had suffered fatal brain injuries and that her death was accidental in nature.

According to the report, Struthers-Gardner was carrying a mason-jar style drinking glass with a screw-top lid and sipping from a metal drinking straw.

When she fell, the 10-inch straw went through her left eye socket and pierced her brain.

Her wife, Mandy Struthers-Gardner, had found her face down on the floor, making “unusual gurgling sounds.” She was rushed to the hospital, where she died the next day.

The death has led coroners to warn people against using metal drinking straws with lids that fix them in place.