MONTREAL – Police are investigating an assault at a Montreal hospital involving a tomato sandwich.
Forty-eight-year-old Alex Montreuil was at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal for a CT scan, the day after the Quebec election-night shooting, when he alleges he was attacked with a tuna and tomato sandwich.
Montreuil suffers violent allergic reactions to salicylates – a substance found naturally in several common foods.
He had his first nearly fatal reaction to tomatoes a few years ago and was rushed to hospital.
“Tomatoes have a form of aspirin in them, which is deadly to me,” he told Global News. “I was literally purple.”
He is very careful when eating.
So, it’s no surprise that when he placed his order at the Café de l’Atrium in the Jewish General Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, Montreuil took precautions.
He asked the person working behind the sandwich counter, in English, to change the gloves she was wearing, in case they had come in contact with tomatoes.
After reluctantly agreeing to change her gloves, Montreuil was served and went to sit in the café with a friend.
As they were chatting and eating their bagels and cream cheese, an angry woman approached their table.
“Suddenly, out of the blue, this person comes up to us and starts screaming in French,” Montreuil described.
She said, “Here in Quebec, we speak French, not English.”
Montreuil says he replied, “In my city, in my country, I can speak the language of my choice.”
After defending his right to speak English in the hospital, their conversation escalated. The woman then furiously stormed off – only to return minutes later.
“She went away and the next thing you know, I have a tomato sandwich come hit me right here,” Montreuil said, pointing to the right side of his face.
“Within two to three minutes I was going into a reaction, swelling all over the body, I was turning red.”
An allergic reaction to food can happen very quickly after coming in contact with even a tiny amount of an allergy-causing food and reactions can be life-threatening.
“I’m just in shock thinking about the story and about food being used as a weapon,” Canadian lawyer and food allergy, health safety and legal expert Elizabeth Goldenberg told Global News.
“I was trying to think of an equivalent situation for someone who is non-allergic to understand what it would be like to have your allergen thrown at you,” she said. “I guess if someone threw a handful of sharp bits of glass and nails and just released it at you – you would have the same instinctive response.”
Listen to an interview with Goldenberg here:
Goldenberg outlined the options as to what happens next (and you can read her full account on her blog here).
“Police would investigate the incident and when it comes to laying criminal charges, they would look at the knowledge the perpetrator had . . . of the victim’s allergies.”
“Charges the police would consider are assault, disorderly conduct, wanton endangerment or administering a noxious substance,” she said.
Constable Jean-Pierre Brabant of the Montreal police verified that a 30-year-old woman was arrested and interviewed about the incident. He confirmed that she may face a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
“My friend said quite loudly that tomatoes are deadly to me,” Montreuil said. “Why would she do this? We were just sitting there, having a quiet breakfast.”
“I can’t eat bagels now . . . I still have nightmares . . . Why can’t we all get along in this day and age?”
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