Laos methanol poisoning survivor 'turning grief into action'

Bethany Clarke first knew something was off when she and her best friend, Simone White, did not feel like swimming at the stunning blue lagoon near Vang Vieng.

The two young British women had been drinking with friends the night before in the Laos backpacker town — Ms Clarke having travelled from Australia and Ms White from the United Kingdom.

They could have expected to be a bit hungover, but this was something different. They were exhausted.

When they went kayaking, they could do nothing but lie in the boats as their friends did all the paddling.

"And Simone was also being sick off of her kayak," Ms Clarke said.

Ms Clarke's brain was foggy, she had no appetite and as the day went on, she felt felt worse and worse.

She slept during a two-hour mini-bus trip north to the capital, Vientiane.

When they arrived, Ms White was vomiting again.

About 4pm, they decided to seek help at a public Lao hospital but were misdiagnosed and given the wrong treatment.

It was only after a concerned friend took them to a Thai-run hospital that they were diagnosed with methanol poisoning.

By then it was too late.

Ms White fell into a coma and her family had to make the heartbreaking decision to take her off life support.

Turning 'grief into action'

Ms Clarke later found out that five other travellers had also died after drinking methanol-tainted alcohol in Vang Vieng that week.

Speaking to the ABC ahead of the tragedy's anniversary this month, Ms Clarke said her life would never be the same.

"I used to speak to Simone multiple times a day," the Brisbane resident said.

They would constantly message, send voice notes, call — even though they were in opposite time zones.

"We were just always in communication. Never hello or goodbye."

In memory of her friend, Ms Clarke has been campaigning to raise awareness of methanol's dangers.

"When Simone died, I made a promise to her family that her story wouldn't be forgotten and that no-one else would have to go through what we did," she said.

Methanol is a highly toxic form of alcohol — as little as 30 millilitres can be fatal — that is basically indistinguishable from normal alcohol.

It sometimes contaminates spirits produced in unregulated distilleries and is reportedly used as a cheap way to make drinks more potent.

Mass poisonings are an ongoing problem across South-East Asia that Ms Clarke says tourists should be wary of.

She is working with a team, including another survivor of the Vang Vieng mass poisoning who went blind, the mother of a Scottish woman who died in Bali, the families of a couple that died in Vietnam, and another woman who lost her sight in Bali.

Part of the campaign is a Change.org petition calling on the Australian and UK governments to provide methanol information in airports, in-flight magazines and schools.

Ms Clarke has also been producing a series of viral videos on social media with tips on how to avoid methanol poisoning and recognise the symptoms.

The team also wants to develop a centralised resource where people can go for information

"That's more than just the campaign that we're running now, but we're just not sure what we're going to call it at the moment," Ms Clarke said.

"So it's kind of in the planning stage."

She said the key message of the campaign was to avoid drinking spirits while travelling.

"People will want to take the Instagrammable cocktail picture, but it's just not worth the risk," she said.

"Just avoiding the shots, the mixed drinks, the buckets, the bartenders pouring things down your throat.

"Take your duty-free [alcohol], drink that before you go out, and then when you're out, stick to canned ciders, canned beers, potentially a bottle that you open yourself if it's a cider or beer."

Other important tips were to make sure your family knew where you were, when you were travelling, and to print off important papers, like insurance documents, and share them with your friends.

That way, if you are not thinking straight, your friends can access them to get you help.

"It takes two seconds to send some insurance documents through to someone else's phone."

Ms Clarke said people should be aware of the symptoms of methanol poisoning because early diagnosis was key.

They include things like:

• Visual changes such as tunnel vision;
• Any confusion, disorientation or foggy brain;
• Loss of appetite;
• Pain or burning in the throat or airways;
• Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; and
• Breathing issues.

Ms Clarke said having breathing difficulties was a "big deal".

"They definitely need to prioritise getting to a hospital because that's just something that's not going to improve on its own," she said.

"Once you've got those breathing difficulties, it's almost too late because you need to kind of be starting the dialysis, probably having some kind of antidote given to you.

"Time is critical at that point."

While Ms Clarke is keen not to take any credit, one of the main aims of the campaign has already been achieved in Australia.

In the wake of the tragedy last year, the Australian government began providing advice and alerts on alcohol-related risks to travellers heading to certain countries through text messages and messaging at Australia's international airports.

In September, the government launched the online Partying Safely Hub to raise awareness of alcohol related risks of overseas travel amongst young Australians — in addition to the information already published on the Smartraveller site.

Ahead of Schoolies this year, Smartraveller has released a set of Schoolies cheat sheets on the Hub for young people heading to Bali, Fiji, Thailand and Vanuatu with useful travel advice and tips on avoiding poisoned drinks.

It is understood Foreign Minister Penny Wong will this week launch new resources for parents, students, and educators to help young people enjoy themselves safely during end-of-year celebrations, including Schoolies.

Ms Clarke said she was pleased with the way the Australian government had responded.

"I would say at this point, we're only a year on and they've managed to do so much," she said.

"The UK, unfortunately, is just really lagging behind."

She said more education in schools would be good.

"And I think kind of putting a bit of pressure on other countries to take their law enforcement more seriously when it comes to alcohol regulation," she said.

"That would be great because otherwise it's just going to keep happening."