An elderly woman died after mistakenly eating poisonous mushrooms she had picked from her garden for dinner with tuna and rice.
Loreta Maria Del Rossi, 98, from Bayswater, in Melbourne’s east, died on May 22 this year after suffering organ failure.
He was found to have suffered poisoning from amatoxins, which are found in the death cap and yellow-staining fungi, Victorian coroner John Cain said in his findings delivered this week.
Mrs Del Rossi grew her own vegetables and was known for collecting wild grasses for herself and her adult son, Nicola, with whom she lived, the coroner said in his findings.
In April of this year, Del Rossi saw some mushrooms in his front yard and asked his son if he thought they would be safe to eat.
He washed and cleaned the mushrooms and put them on a plate with tuna and rice.
Neither Mrs. Del Rossi nor her son became ill and a few weeks later, on May 15, she decided to pick mushrooms from the garden again to prepare the same food for dinner.
Mrs. Del Rossi woke up in the middle of the night and began vomiting, telling her son that the mushrooms were not good.
An elderly woman living in Melbourne died after mistakenly eating suspected poisonous mushrooms for dinner with tuna and rice (shown in the photo are poisonous mushrooms turning yellow).
At around 6am the next day, Nicola also started vomiting and the couple called an ambulance.
Both Nicola and her mother were taken to hospital, but Mrs Del Rossi’s condition deteriorated and she told medical staff she was in severe pain.
Following her wishes, Ms. Del Rossi’s treatment was discontinued and she was moved to palliative care. He died on May 22.
Cain said in his findings that mushrooms that dye yellow are often confused with edible mushrooms purchased in supermarkets.
Death mushrooms are usually white, yellow, and brown or green.
The coroner issued an urgent warning about the consumption of wild mushrooms and said more public awareness was needed.
“I therefore recommend that the Department of Health, together with the Victorian Poison Information Centre, design an annual advertising campaign that can be published each year in early autumn, when wild mushrooms are prevalent in Victoria, highlighting the dangers of consume wild mushrooms. said.
Del Rossi’s death comes as a trial date has been set for alleged mushroom killer Erin Patterson.
Erin Patterson murder trial to begin April 28 in Victoria
Ms Patterson’s murder trial will begin on April 28.
The 49-year-old faces three counts of murder over the deaths of her father-in-law Don Patterson, mother-in-law Gail Patterson and extended relative Heather Wilkinson, after inviting the trio to lunch at her home in Leongatha, Victoria. in July of last year.
She is accused of the attempted murder of her ex-husband Simon Patterson, who was invited to the lunch but did not attend, and of two other alleged attempts on her life in 2022, and another in 2021.
Patterson is also charged with the attempted murder of Pastor Ian Wilkinson, who was at the lunch but survived after a long fight for life in hospital.