Wild fungus dish left hikers near death
A married couple thought the mushrooms they picked for dinner while hiking were safe, but they were among the most poisonous found in Hong Kong
Tony Wu Tung-ping and wife Wong Ngan-lin were a fit and healthy couple. He could finish a marathon in less than four hours and she enjoyed hiking with him every weekend.
But after a hike this month, the 48-year-old pair were told they might have just three days left to live.
Accustomed to gathering wild mushrooms during their hikes to cook for dinner later, they had picked about three catties of an attractive white mushroom which they later braised with chicken. "I did not suspect they might have problems," Wu said. "They were so fragrant, and smelled a bit better than those sold in supermarkets."
Within a few hours, both were fighting for their lives as doctors desperately sought new livers for them.
The innocent-looking mushrooms they had gathered were Amanita farinosa, one of the most deadly species in Hong Kong - just one or two small pieces, a poisons expert says - can kill.
Unlike many other wild mushrooms which cause gastro-intestinal upsets, these ones attack the liver.