Another backpacker who drank at Nana Backpackers reveals disturbing account in the lead up to suspected mass methanol poisoning
Another backpacker poisoned at the same bar as the two Aussies has come forward and revealed a disturbing account of what she experienced moments before tragedy hit.
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A British backpacker who drank at the same Laos hostel as Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones has revealed she suffered methanol poisoning two days before the Australian teenagers were struck down.
Holly, 19, died in Bangkok Hospital, while Bianca Jones’ family confirmed this week that she had died “surrounded by love” after they had both been poisoned while staying at Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng.
This new first person account increases suspicions that the source of the methanol tainted spirits came from the backpackers on the tourist town’s main road.
Lily, who asked for a different name to be used in this story, had only two “free vodkas” at the Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng shortly before 3pm on November 9 but became violently ill.
They were served by Toan, a bartender who was interviewed by Laos police this week at the hostel.
Toan said earlier this week that the vodka he poured came from a factory and that he had not added anything or watered it down – even pouring a glass for himself and taking a drink himself to prove it was safe.
Lily suffered temporary blindness, spent a day vomiting and had a resting heart rate of 170 beats per minute when she finally received medical help.
Her boyfriend saved her life when he begged her to go to the hospital after Lily called him complaining about how sick she had become.
“I just thought I was hungover, I spent the day going between my room and the toilet, just vomiting,” she said.
“I had my eyes closed when I was walking to the toilet because I couldn’t see. I called my boyfriend and he said ‘please get some help, go to the hospital’.”
That plea prompted Lily to ask her friends at the backpackers to walk the 500m to the Vang Vieng District Hospital.
“It was 8pm at night by this stage. I asked my friends, ‘will you take me to the hospital?’ I had to stop for 20 minutes about halfway because I couldn’t breathe,” Lily said.
Doctors at the hospital spoke little English, making it harder to explain what was wrong.
“They thought I was drunk,” Lily said.
“The doctors said I was dehydrated so they put me on a drip for three hours. I do physio so I know about stats and I knew my stats were not normal.
“I had a resting heart rate of 170 beats per minute. I’d only ever get that normally if I was doing cardio at the gym.”
An average resting heart rate for a 21-year-old woman is 70 beats per minute.
Lily said her heart rate lowered after the saline drip and hospital staff discharged her with nausea medication.
She had been travelling with a group of friends who had crossed paths with Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles on the backpacker trail in Laos, including in Luang Prabang, another popular tourist spot at the intersection of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.
“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.
Lily said she felt “so sad for Holly, Bianca, and their families”.
“I just feel terrible for them,” she said.
Bianca, British lawyer Simone White, two Danish girls, and an American man have died of methanol poisoning after spending time in Vang Vieng this month.
The American has been named as James Louis Hutson, 57, and the Danish women as Anne-Sofie Orkid Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, according to The Age, which cited a police document.
According to the document, Mr Hutson was found dead in his Nana Backpackers hostel room next to empty beer and vodka bottles, and the Danish women were found unconscious on the floor of the hostel bathroom.
At least a dozen people have been hospitalised.
Seven of those have been British women, including healthworker Bethany Clarke.
Australian Embassy officials in Laos visited Nana Backpackers after Holly and Bianca became ill.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not respond to questions about whether it had sought information from Laos police about the source of the methanol contamination.
However, Australian Embassies have no authority to intervene in local judicial matters or conduct local investigations.
Nana Backpackers had been serving free spirits at happy hours each night between 8 and 10pm.
Lily, who had one drink out with friends for lunch, was going “tipsy tubing” about the Saturday afternoon of November 9.
Tipsy tubing is one of the highlights of Van Vieng, which is situated on the shallow, fast flowing Nam Song river.
Each day, buses take backpackers up river and they float back down over several hours, stopping at riverside bars.
Lily was at Nana Backpackers getting ready to leave just before 3pm when she spotted Toan behind the bar.
“This is going to sound stupid now, but I sort of made a joke, ‘when does happy hour start? Can it be now’,” she said.
“Then he just poured me a vodka. But I thought – it was a free drink. I went to the tipsy tubing but I can’t remember any of it, I was so drunk. There’s two or three bars but I went home after the first bar.”
Lily was with a group of 15 people, but only three became ill.
A day after Lily had what turned out to be life saving medical help, Bianca and Holly, both 19, were in the same backpackers’ bar.
They were downing the same free spirits in plastic cups, which are usually mixed with Coke Zero because they taste so bad.
Lily said she did not know who was responsible for the methanol laced drinks.
“It’s happened to a lot of girls and now people have died,” she said.
More than 600,000 people visit Van Vieng each year, most of them are teenagers on a gap year, or taking advantage of long university holidays.
Nana Backpackers was one of the most popular spots in the resort town.
Bridie Sheridan, 22, and Holly Gregson, 23, both of Canberra, had been booked to stay there but opted for a hotel instead.
They spoke on the banks of the Nam Song river this week before going tubing.
The Canberra women jumped into the water near an organic farm, carrying hand held video cameras to document their trip down the river.
But they didn’t bring any booze, or stop for drinks at the riverside bars.
“I haven’t drunk any alcohol since (I heard about Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones), it’s kind of turned me off it,” Bridie said.
“It has scared us to be honest. These girls didn’t do anything different to the rest of us, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Holly Gregson said “lots of hostels have been offering free shots”.
“We have done them, but not now. It could have been any of us.”
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Originally published as Another backpacker who drank at Nana Backpackers reveals disturbing account in the lead up to suspected mass methanol poisoning
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