They say revenge is a dish best served cold - the crab waited two months before it got its revenge
A dad who ate a live crab, shell and all, after it bit his daughter soon came to regret the decision as the crab later took revenge on him in an incident so bizarre a doctor in China has spoken out about it.
The man, identified only as Lu, was out in a stream with his daughter when she was nipped by a cheeky crustacean.
The 39-year-old from Zhejiang in eastern China was outraged by the audacity of the crab, so hatched a plan of revenge. But, rather than catching it, and perhaps eating it later, like after he had cooked it, the man decided to deal with the crab then and there. Shell and all. Swallowing it whole.
But the crab had the last laugh. Revenge, they say is a dish best served cold, and the crab came back to bite Lu two months later.
According to local media reports, Lu became severely sick and was admitted to hospital suffering from back and abdominal pain.
It was later discovered the father had developed eosinophilic gastroenteritis - a rare digestive disease.
Director of the digestive system department at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, Dr Cao Qian, told Zhejiang Television: "We repeatedly asked him if he had ever eaten game, or anything unusual, anything that could cause allergies. He said, 'No, not at all'."
However, after being reminded by his wife about the incident at the stream, Lu told doctors he had eaten "something special".
His reasoning? "I wanted to take revenge for my daughter. When we were by a stream my daughter was pinched by a small crab, so I got angry and put it in my mouth for revenge," Lu reportedly told Dr Qian.
The crab may not be alive anymore, but its memory lives on in the three parasites found in Lu's stomach.
Dr Qian has since spoken out to warn anyone against eating "completely" raw crab.
You don't have to cook the crustacean if you don't want to, but "theoretically it's better to eat something marinated than completely raw because it has been treated with alcohol which can help kill parasites and bacteria," Dr Qian advises.
However, treating the raw crab with alcohol "can't kill all parasites, so it's not 100 percent safe either".
Lu has since recovered from the disease.
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