Quebec man wants compensation after he says salmon meal put him in a coma

A Quebec man who was hospitalized for anaphylactic shock aftereating salmon despite warning a server about his seafood allergy is threatening to sue the restaurant for compensation.

Lawyers for Simon-Pierre Canuel, 34, senta letter dated Aug. 9to Le Tapageur restaurantin Sherbrooke, Que.

The letter, obtained by Radio-Canada this week,said Canuel would go to court to seek damages if an agreement can't be reachedamicably.

The letter does not indicate the amount of compensation sought.

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Canuelsays he visited Le Tapageur on May 29 andordered beef tartare. He says hetold the waiter he was allergic to salmon and seafood.

Canuel wasserved salmon tartare instead. He says in the dimly lit room hewas not able to tell it wasn't what he ordered.

He wentinto anaphylactic shock at the restaurant and was taken to hospital.

He says he suffered a cardiac arrest the following day and was in a coma for several days.

"I almost died," he previously told CBC News.

Canuelfiled a complaint with Sherbrooke police and the server was arrested.

Police have saidthe servercould be charged with criminal negligence, but no charges have yet been laid.

Previous bad reactions

In a phone conversation this week with Radio-Canada, Canuel said it's not the first timehe has suffered severe anaphylactic shock or had a bad reaction to a restaurant meal.

In 2004, he says hecontracted salmonella at a restaurant in Luxembourg.He says he did not pursue any legal recourse in that case.

He also says he was treated at theHull Hospital in Gatineau, Que., in the winter of 2013 for an allergic reaction to a medicine.

In March of this year,he was againhospitalized in Gatineaufor another food-related reaction.

There is no record of Canuelfiling a lawsuit in those cases.

Why no EpiPen?

Canuel says he normally carries anEpiPen with him, but he didn't have it at Le Tapageur.

He previously told Radio-Canada that he forgotthe EpiPen in his vehicle the night he went to the restaurant, but said this week that it likely fell out of his pocket when he got out of his vehicle.

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