A woman was left with a fishy problem after she discovered the food she was about the prepare for an evening meal was still alive. Cindy Lao had bought a batch of fish for the freezer and had kept it on ice for almost 48 hours.
But as she set about cooking the family meal she realised the gills of the Crucian carp were still moving. And the fish escaped with its life after Cindy decided it had done enough to avoid the cooking pot.
Cindy's partner Paul Lewis-Borman told Gloucestershire Live how the planned meal fell apart with the discovery of the still breathing fish. He told how Cindy, from Cheltenham. was in London for Chinese New Year with her friends when she bought several sea bass and the carp from a fishmonger.
It was thought the fish had come from the wholesalers earlier that day. She placed it in the fridge when she got home and then the following day she began to prepare it for their evening meal.
But when she spotted something amiss she called her partner as she could not quite believe it. As despite its lengthy stay in the cold one of the fish seemed to be alive.
Paul said: “She called me down as she had thought she had seen the Crucian carp’s gills moving and asked me what I thought. They certainly were.
“I was in two minds of whether to put the poor thing out of its misery but Cindy said ‘no, it is a miracle he is still alive’. So we got a bowl of water to put him in.”
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He added: “The carp was listless for a while, but after 20 minutes those gills were certainly going. We had nowhere to keep him except the bath and luckily we have another shower room. Needless to say he could not stay there and it did put you off when you were trying to use the toilet.
“Lazarus, as he is now known, needed to be rehoused, if for no other reason than my girlfriend was then paying the fish more attention than she did me. In the picture you can see how quickly things can change, 24 hours before he was going to be dinner.”
Paul posted on a forum called Pets4Homes and a lady with a pond with Koi carp in it came forward and said she would happily give Lazarus a good home. He said: “He had been through a lot.
"He was sandwiched between all those dead fish for all that time and was nearly dinner. Cindy certainly bought fresh fish that day.
“We are pleased he now has a good home. The lady told us he now has a best fish friend who he happily is swimming about with in his new home.”
