Leo Gillick
I’ve had some nasty takeaway chicken before, but finding a finger tip in a wrap would definitely be an all-time low.
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We’ve all got our favorite chicken shops, and for Mary Elizabeth Smith, 43, it was Create Astoria, a Mediterranean restaurant in Queens. She used to visit the place regularly for a bite to eat. She was a particular fan of their chicken wrap, noting its wonderful flavor and typical lack of human meat.
But when she bit into her lunch back in 2023, she claims she was horrified by what she felt in her mouth. Spitting out her mouthful, she immediately knew something was wrong. Looking at what she had bitten into, she was disgusted to see a female finger tip had been included in her chicken wrap.
Looking at what lay before her, she noted that it was the entire end of a woman’s finger. It was complete with a fingernail and all, according to her lawsuit. She sent the partial digit off for testing, and it was confirmed to be of human origin.
As a result, she had to undergo intense antiretroviral therapy. This was the assurance that she wouldn’t be infested by one of many human-borne diseases that can be picked up from munching on human flesh. The whole experience, understandably, left her feeling shaken.
Chicken Finger
Mary Elizabeth isn’t trusting of any food not prepared by herself anymore. She doesn’t know what she will find in her food next time. First, it’s a finger in a chicken wrap; next could be an entire foot in her takeaway burrito. She simply doesn’t know.
“This has left me very cautious about anything that I am eating. It took me a really long time to work up the courage to eat chicken again. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen,” she said to NDTV.
However, the owner of the chicken wrap restaurant says there is absolutely no way the finger came from his place. “I never have female employees working the prep line. She doesn’t want to do DNA testing on [the fingertip], which would prove it [didn’t come] from one of my employees,” he said. “You’d have a better chance of hitting the lotto twice in one day than someone [at Create] not noticing a piece of finger. It’s ridiculous.”
