‘Praying for her’: Family reveals teens’ dream getaway before drink-spiking horror

The family of one of the Aussie teens fighting for life say they “can’t believe what has happened to our angel”, revealing the best friends were on a dream holiday in Southeast Asia.

The family of a young woman fighting for life after a horror drink spiking in Laos say they are “praying for her” after dashing to be by her bedside in a Thai hospital.

Best friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, were on a “dream getaway” together in Southeast Asia when they fell victim to a mass methanol poisoning, which claimed the lives of two other travellers.

The teens, from Melbourne’s bayside suburbs, had been staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist town about 130km north of Laos’ capital Vientiane.

Ms Jones’ family told the Herald Sun they “can’t believe what has happened to our angel”.

“Our beautiful Bianca was on a dream getaway with her best friend Holly,” they said.

“They were filled with joy and had such incredible adventures ahead of them, travelling through Asia.

“We are here by Bianca’s bedside praying for her.

“Please respect our privacy at this difficult time.”

Bianca Jones’ family say they are ‘praying for her’ as she remain in hospital in Thailand. Picture: Supplied

Ms Jones and Ms Bowles, who graduated from Mentone Girls’ Grammar and Beaumaris Secondary College last year, are being treated in separate hospitals in Bangkok and Udon Thai.

The pair left Melbourne a couple of weeks ago to set off on their dream holiday. They were due to return home for Christmas.

Ms Bowles shared glimpses of her travels across Thailand to TikTok little more than a week before she consumed the deadly liquid.

In the 40-second clip, the teen could be seen smiling with friends as she rode on the back of a motorised scooter – a popular mode of transport in the country.

Others showed the cafe worker taking in views of the famous coastline as she hiked through the mountains, later jumping into the ocean hand-in-hand with a friend.

Documented in between were moments from nights spent on the town, even showing one eager traveller appearing to fall from a mechanical bull.

“Forever grateful for this place and the people,” Ms Bowles captioned the post.

@hol1yb19

Forever grateful for this place and the people🇹🇭

♬ original sound - Boss_D_a_n_t_e

Devastated colleagues at Frank’s Melbourne cafe in Cheltenham, where Ms Bowles has worked for the past two-and-a-half years, described her as an “absolute star”.

It is understood the pair had both played for Beaumaris Football Club, where Holly’s father Sean worked as an assistant coach this year.

Club president Nicholas Heath told media that their devastated teammates were supporting each other during a “difficult and unfolding situation”.

“As a football club, we feel a little bit inadequate, a lot of their teammates are quite rightly distraught,” he said.

Mr Heath described Holly as an “incredibly respected” member inside the clubrooms.

“She was an incredibly tough competitor on the field,” he said.

“We’ve got a very tight group of players at the footy club.”

Holly Bowles is also fighting for life after the horror incident. Picture: Facebook

It is believed Ms Jones and Ms Bowles drank cocktails late last week that were laced with methanol.

Nana Backpackers Hostel staff found them unwell in their room.

It comes as the manager of the hostel claimed a nearby bar was responsible for the tragedy, insisting his business was a “victim” of mass poisonings in the area.

Speaking to the Herald Sun on Tuesday, Duong van Huan denied distributing alcohol with methanol and insisted poisonings had occurred at other hostels too.

“Right now the police (are telling) every hostel and hotel and bar to stop selling drinks in Vang Vieng,” he said.

“Not only our hostel, other hostel and hotel customers have the same problem.”

Mr van Huan said his business was a “victim” in the tragedy.

“We (are) still working with the police … we are also victims.”

The teens were staying at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos. Picture: Supplied

Nana Backpacker Hostel, Vang Vieng, Laos Picture: Supplied

A staffer at the hostel said Australian Embassy officials had inspected the hostel’s bar after the incident.

The staffer said the alcohol served there was “very normal”.

The hostel is known for its party vibe and offers free drinks, including vodka, whiskey and beer, according to reviews on its Facebook page.

Aussie traveller Stuart Cameron said he visited Vang Vieng in April this year.

He said Nana Backpackers Hostel had a reputation of being “pretty loose”.

“It’s two hours of free spirits, all you can drink and it gets really loose,” he said.

“It’s a typical-looking backpackers place, it’s not really run down but it’s not a flash hotel or flash backpackers by any means.

“If you were a backpacker turning up there, you would think it was the happening place.”

Mr Cameron said he was warned about homemade alcohol in the town.

“We had heard to be very careful about the spirits,” he said.

“In the area, the whole town itself, there were rumours about bad spirits in the homemade alcohol being used to top up whatever was being poured.”

Mr Cameron said backpackers flocked to the area for the thrillseeking activities.

“It’s quite a spectacular area with huge limestones and mountains that have been worn away,” he said.

“It’s relatively remote with not a lot of tourism, the tourism that is there is predominantly backpackers.

“There’s lots of things to do like ballooning, rafting, kayaking, caving, ziplining and things like that. Typically a lot of those backpackers are doing those sorts of things.”

According to the Methanol Institute, the clear liquid chemical is often added to alcoholic drinks as a cheaper alternative to ethanol in countries where taxes on legitimate alcohol might be perceived as too high.

Drinking just 25-90ml of methanol can be fatal without proper medical treatment.

Other symptoms of methanol poisoning can include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties, blindness, blurred vision and seizures.

A DFAT spokesman on Monday confirmed it was providing consular assistance to two Australians and their families.

Originally published as ‘Praying for her’: Family reveals teens’ dream getaway before drink-spiking horror