Following news of a tragic mass poisoning at a backpacker hostel in Laos last week, survivors of alcohol poisoning in Bali are coming forward to share their stories.
Ashely King, from the U.S., visited Bali in 2011 and lost her sight after drinking a cocktail at a bar in Kuta.
Ashley King has spoken to the media about the life-changing events that followed her vacation in Kuta in 2011.
Sadly, while over a decade ago, there are still frequent reports of alcohol poisoning, also known as methanol poisoning, happening in Bali every year.
King, who was living in Australia in 2011, booked a short vacation in Bali; after drinking an innocuous-looking ‘tropical’ cocktail on offer at a tourist bar, her life changed forever.
King told reporters “[It] was no different from any other night that I had gone out.”
As the night progressed, she began feeling unwell, and the symptoms became progressively worse over the following two days as she traveled from Denpasar to New Zealand.
King explained, “When I finally got to my accommodation, I went to bed, and when I woke up the next morning, I noticed that it was really dim lighting in the hostel, which I just chalked up to cheap, hostile lighting. And about 10 minutes later, I was unable to breathe, and I was gasping for air.”
She revealed how she was rushed to hospital, but by the time she arrived, her vision had completely deteriorated.
King said, “It was something that [the doctors] hadn’t seen before, and it was kind of a bit of a conundrum for them to figure out what was wrong.”
King shared how her parents picked up the “terrifying” phone call imploring them to get on the next available flight to New Zealand because the chances of her surviving the ordeal were slim.
Incredibly, thanks to the world-class medical care available in New Zealand, King has survived, though the poisoning has left her legally blind.
She explained, “I’m blind now. I’ve got about 2 percent of my eyesight, and it was by far the most traumatic and hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. I had to learn how to live my life all over again.”
“Losing your eyesight and gaining a disability is really difficult.” She expressed her heartache for the families of the six travelers who died in Laos as a result of the mass methanol poisoning incident in Vang Vieng last week.
Tourists traveling to Bali during this festive season, or at any time, are reminded that methanol poisoning is common in Bali and around Southeast Asia.
It is almost impossible to tell by taste or smell if a drink contains Methanol rather than safely produced alcohol.
Much of the prevailing advice suggests that tourists should not order spirits or hard liquor from any bars in Bali, sticking rather to beers, wines, or bottles of pre-mixed alcohol.
Advice from Colin Ahern, the founder of a campaign and awareness Facebook page called Just Don’t Drink Spirits in Bali, has often reminded tourists to only drink hard liquor that they have brought into the country themselves or from duty-free.
Australia’s SmartTraveler explains that “methanol can be used in unregulated alcohol production to lower costs. Methanol is highly toxic. As little as one shot can be fatal. Act quickly if you suspect you or someone you’re traveling with has been poisoned.”
The government travel advice bureau suggests that tourists in Bali and Lombok should “be careful drinking cocktails and drinks made with spirits, drink only at reputable licensed premises, avoid home-made alcoholic drinks [and to check] labels on bottles aren’t always accurate.”
Tourists traveling to Bali at any time should have fully comprehensive medical insurance and be fully aware of what illnesses, events, and incidents are and are not covered.
Some policies are automatically invalidated if the policyholder consumes substances such as alcohol.
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