A British backpacker has revealed she fell violently ill after having two drinks at the same Laos hostel where Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were left fighting for life with methanol poisoning.
The family of 19-year-old Holly, from Melbourne, confirmed she had died in hospital in Bangkok on Friday, surrounded by her loved ones. Her best friend Bianca, also 19, sadly died in a different hospital on Thursday.
The British backpacker, who asked to go by the name Lily, claims she was given two ‘free vodkas’ at Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng on November 9, two days before Holly and Bianca became sick.
Lily said bartender Duong Duc Toan poured her the drinks about 3pm after she joked with him about missing ‘happy hour’ as she left to go to the backpacker activity ‘tipsy tubing’, which involves floating on tyre tubes down the Nam Song River.
Toan, who has been detained and questioned by local police, has denied his vodka is tainted and said it was made in a factory. He even went as far as to drink some himself when interviewed by reporters.
Methanol has been known to be used in homemade alcohol in southeast Asia. Six tourists have died from methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng in recent days and several others remain in hospital.
Lily said she left the tipsy tubing route early because she was so drunk and returned to the hostel. She said three other people in her group of 15 also fell ill.
Throughout that night and the next day, Lily said she became increasingly sick despite having stopped drinking and credits her boyfriend with saving her life after he insisted she ‘go to the hospital’.
‘I just thought I was hungover, I spent the day going between my room and the toilet just vomiting… I had my eyes closed when I was walking to the toilet because I couldn’t see,’ Lily told Newscorp.
Lily said once at the hospital she struggled to get staff to understand that she wasn’t simply drunk because of the language barrier.
She was eventually given IV fluids and slowly improved, with her heart rate calming from a dangerously high resting rate of 170 beats per minute.
While she is grateful to have recovered she said she felt ‘so sad for Holly, Bianca and their families’.
‘I didn’t speak to them but the friends I was travelling with had become friends with them [Holly and Bianca]. You can feel like you’ve known each other for years in just a few days,’ she said.
It comes after Holly’s younger brother, James Bowles, posted a heartbreaking tribute to his sister on Instagram on Friday evening.
‘Fly high my beautiful, older sister, you’re always in my heart,’ he wrote alongside a picture of Holly.
The family earlier on Friday released a statement after arriving in Thailand over a week ago to keep a 24-hour vigil at her bedside.
‘It is with broken hearts and we are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace. We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly brought so much joy and happiness to so many people,’ the statement read.
‘Holly was living her best life travelling through South East Asia meeting new friends and enjoying incredible experiences.
‘As her parents we were always so incredibly proud of everything Holly did.Holly was an amazing big sister to James and she always looked out for him.
‘We would like to thank everyone from back home, in Canada and around the world for the love and support that Holly and our family have received.’
Holly and Bianca were both heavily involved with the Beaumaris Football Club which on Saturday posted a tribute to the pair, showing ribbons of blue and yellow, the club’s colours, tied to a signpost of their home ground at Banksia Reserve.
‘Join in and turn Beaumaris Blue & Yellow in loving memory of both girls gone too soon and in support of their grief-stricken parents,’ the club wrote on Instagram.
The club held a ‘private get-together’ for players and coaches on Friday night.
Frank’s cafe, where Ms Bowles worked for over two years, paid tribute to their co-worker who they described as a ‘staple’ of the team.
‘Holly was the best of us. She was sweet, incredibly kind, reliable, funny, diligent, hardworking and extremely capable,’ the cafe wrote on Instagram.
‘Believe me when I say that I couldn’t fault her. Finally, to Holly, I’m just so thankful you walked through our door with a resume, kid. I’ll never forget you mate.’
