BUENOS AIRES -- A woman suffering permanent health damage after accidentally drinking caustic soda at an Argentine restaurant four years ago threatened to kill herself Friday but changed her mind when her former boss promised to pay for an operation, media reports said.

The woman, Marcela Apanian, 25, threatened to throw herself off a balcony on the second floor of a court building in downtown Cordoba if she was not paid health compensation of 37,000 pesos (about 12,000 dollars) to cover surgery to improve her condition, DPA quoted Telam news agency as saying.

Four years ago, Apanian mistakenly ingested cleaning fluid at the restaurant in Cordoba Province where she was working and has been suing the owner for health compensation since then.

She agreed to come down from the balcony after court workers and lawyers told her that her case would soon be resolved favorably because the owner had said he would pay her the money.