A 30-YEAR-OLD woman with “locked-in syndrome” after a devastating stroke ten years ago had died at a seaside holiday park when she choked on a marshmallow, an inquest heard on Wednesday.

Mia Austin, of Lower Heswall, Wirral, died on June 26 at the Warren holiday site at Abersoch in Gwynedd.

She had wanted to do a Love Island-style marshmallow eating challenge, the coroner was told.

Her mother Carol Austin told the Caernarfon inquest how Mia had been nominated as Merseyside “woman of the year” and won the award posthumously the day after the tragedy.

Mrs Austin described how in November 2009 the “perfectly well and healthy” daughter had a stroke at home.

“We were told she wasn’t going to make it that night. Then a week later we were told she had locked-in syndrome. Her mind was 101 per cent functioning but she lost her speech and movement.

“She regained a little movement in her face and head.”

Mrs Austin said :”She communicated through a spell chart. She also had a computer which she could text her friends and email.

She wrote a book. She was communicating through a computer or her spell chart.”

The computer recognised her eye gaze to allow her to communicate.

“At first she was peg-fed through a tube in her stomach. As she got stronger - she was in hospital 13 months - she progressed to eating different foods,” the mother explained.

However, there had been three episodes of choking.

On June 26 Mia had wanted to top-up her tan ahead of the woman of the year event.

“She was very, very excitable because the previous evening she had been to the ceremony where all the nominees met each other,” Mrs Austin said.

Tragically, during a lunchtime visit to a shop in Wales, Mia noticed some large marshmallows.

“Apparently on Love Island they did a marshmallow challenge, you put marshmallows in the mouth.

That’s what she wanted to do with two friends,” Mrs Austin declared.

Marshmallows were bought and they returned to their chalet.

A carer had put a marshmallow in Mia’s mouth.

Mia had shaken her head to say “no” when the carer had suggested it needed cutting. She began choking and panicked.

“I can remember saying ’Oh my god she’s going blue’,” Mrs Austin continued.

Mia lost consciousness quickly despite frantic efforts to try to save her.

Paramedics and an air ambulance helicopter attended and the marshmallow was removed eventually.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said as a result of the stroke she didn’t have the ability to cough up the marshmallow.

He recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

The coroner said the marshmallow had blocked the airway and she suffocated.

“In this case there was nothing abnormal in the consumption of the marshmallow. It was soft and something she should have been able to digest,’” he added.

Family members left the inquest without making any comment about the inspirational daughter.