Doctor recounts fight to save life of methanol poisoning victim Holly Bowles before her death in Thailand
A doctor has described the desperate lengths to which hospital staff went to save the life of one of two Australian teens who died from methanol poisoning in Laos last week.
Friends Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both 19, were found unresponsive in their hostel in the tourist town of Vang Vieng, two days after drinking alcohol believed to have been laced with methanol.
Bowles was taken to a nearby local hospital, where the first doctor to treat her described how she went from being confused to comatose in just 30 minutes.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“She was confused, and she was sleepy,” Dr Yaher told The Times. “We asked her what she had eaten or drunk, but she didn’t know what had happened.”
Doctors treating Bowles said they thought she may have taken cannabis lollies, popular with tourists travelling the popular Banana Pancake Trail.
“We treated her symptomatically,” Yaher told The Times.
“We put her on an IV drip and gave her vitamins. But after 30 minutes, she had a seizure and went into a coma. I was so surprised. We gave her CPR, because she had difficulty breathing, and we intubated her and referred her to (a hospital in Vientiane).”
Bowles was eventually taken to a hospital in Thailand for treatment, where she died on November 22, nine days after she was first believed to have been poisoned, and one day after her friend Jones.
Four other tourists staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel also died of methanol poisoning, with others saying they had fallen ill during their stay there.
Jones’s father said his daughter was on the trip of a lifetime and wanted to explore the world to meet new friends.
“Her life had just begun,” Mark Jones told reporters in Bangkok on Saturday.
“She was a young woman that had a lust for life.
“We’ll forever miss our beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain.”
Thai authorities have confirmed Jones died of “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”.
On behalf of both Australian families, Jones urged the Laos government to investigate the incident to the “fullest extent” to avoid it happening again.
“We can’t have the passing of our daughter ... not lead to change to protect others,” he said.
- With AAP
Originally published on 7NEWS
