00:00Joe Belgio allegedly went into cardiac arrest, fell into a months-long coma, and suffered permanent brain damage after eating
00:07contaminated oysters at Gibson Steakhouse and Bar in Oak Brook, Illinois, on June 30, 2025.
00:15Belgio's fiancée, Melanie Steyer, said the couple was out celebrating with family when he ate the oysters before he fell
00:22gravely ill.
00:23The 44-year-old went into cardiac arrest three days after eating the oysters and lost consciousness and oxygen for
00:31at least eight minutes before he was revived, his lawyer Scott O'Sullivan told the outlet.
00:37According to the lawsuit, doctors screened Belgio for bacteria and identified several pathogens that attorneys say are associated with shellfish
00:45contamination.
00:45His lawyers said that Belgio's treating physicians determined a reasonable degree of medical certainty that his illness, heart attack, and
00:54subsequent injuries were a result of eating the oysters.
00:58Responding to the allegations, Gibson's released a statement to ABC7 Chicago saying there have been no other reported cases of
01:06illness.
01:06Based on the facts and our internal investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that our establishment caused his health
01:13condition.
01:14A separate location of the franchise from the one Belgio dined at failed or narrowly passed one-third of its
01:21annual food safety inspections since 2010 and has even been previously cited for its mishandling of oysters.
Comments