Two brothers die five months apart after BOTH choked to death on a piece of meat 

Two brother died just months apart after choking to death on their food, an inquest has heard. 

Gwyn Francis, 62, died when he suffered a brain injury after choking on steak and chips at the Mill Tavern in Flint, Wales on January 29. 

Just one day before an inquest into Mr Francis’ death was due to begin on July 3, his older brother Selwyn, 68, also choked on his food while dining out. Selwyn was taken to hospital but passed away on July 4. 

Their brother Kenneth Francis told an inquest into Selwyn’s death that he and his two brothers ‘ate quickly without chewing their food properly.’

At Gwyn’s inquest on July 3, senior coroner John Gittins recorded a conclusion of accidental death, finding the 62-year-old suffered a hypoxic brain injury on January 29. 

He had been eating steak and chips at the Mill Tavern at Flint when he started choking and paramedics managed to remove a small piece of meat from his throat. 

When it became clear that his airway was still blocked they performed a tracheotomy. 

Gwyn was a carer for his brother Selwyn, who had suffered several strokes in the past.

Some 18 months earlier Selwyn had also choked on a piece of steak at the same venue, but was saved by someone performing the Heimlich manoeuvre.

On Monday an inquest was opened into Selwyn’s death. 

It heard he choked on food at another unnamed restaurant in the Flint area on July 2, the day before Gwyn’s inquest. He was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital but died on July 4.

Assistant coroner Elizabeth Dudley-Jones said the provisional cause of death had again been given as hypoxic brain injury following a cardiac arrest.

Since his brother’s death Selwyn, 68, a retired process worker, had been living at the Gillibrand Nursing Home in Chorley.

The inquest was adjourned to a date to be fixed.