A woman who visited a fishmonger for her dinner was shocked to discover the fish was still alive when she started to prepare it, after it spent nearly 48 hours on ice. Cindy Lao was baffled when she noticed the gills of the Crucian carp she had purchased were still moving and immediately ran a bath of water where the fish would live for the next two weeks.
The Cheltenham woman had been in London for Chinese New year with her friends when she decided to visit a fishmonger in Greenford on her last day. She bought several sea bass and Crucian carp which are believed to have come from the wholesalers the same morning, the Gloucestershire Live reports.
When Cindy arrived home, she stored the fish in the fridge and took it out the next day to prepare for dinner. However, she was left stunned to discover that one of the fish, now known as 'Lazarus' was still alive.
Partner, Paul Lewis-Borman 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.” The helpless Crucian carp seemed to struggle at first but he later made a full recovery.
Paul said: “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 keen lady with a pond with Koi carp in it came forward and said she could provide Lazarus with a good home.
Paul 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.”
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