My best friend died and I barely survived after we were both poisoned by methanol in Laos - this is the terrifying moment we both realised what was wrong
The best friend of a British woman who died after drinking bootleg alcohol abroad has told of the harrowing moment they realised they had been poisoned.
Bethany Clarke and Simone White, both from Orpington in south-east London, were on a night out in Laos last November when six shots resulted in tragedy.
London solicitor Ms White, 28, died after unknowingly consuming bootleg alcohol - believed to have contained methanol - while travelling in popular backpacker town Vang Vieng.
Now living in Brisbane, 28-year-old Ms Clarke has launched a petition to raise awareness about methanol poisoning risks - calling for education in UK schools.
The friends had been backpacking across south-east Asia, starting in Cambodia - and had reached Laos full of excitement.
The pair had spent the day tubing down the river - a popular tourist activity - before returning to their hostel for a night of drinking.
Ms Clarke has now recalled: 'We had methanol-laced shots - we had five or six each, just mixing them with Sprite.
'The next morning, we didn't feel right, but we just assumed it was a hangover. It was strange, though - unlike any hangover I'd had before.
'It felt like being drunk but in a way where you couldn't enjoy it - something was just off.'
Despite their condition, they continued with their plans - heading to the surrounding area's Blue Lagoon and kayaking down the river again.
Ms Clarke added: 'We were just lying on the backs of the kayaks, too weak to paddle. Simone was being sick off one of them.
'Neither of us wanted to swim or eat - which, we later learned, are early signs of methanol poisoning.'
After later boarding a bus to their next destination, Ms White fainted and Ms Clarke kept vomiting before both were taken to a local hospital that Ms Clarke has now described as 'very poor'.
She added: 'They had no idea what was wrong. They talked about food poisoning, but we hadn't eaten the same things. It didn't make sense.'
Still confused and deteriorating, the group then made it to a private hospital for Ms White to receive further treatment.
Ms Clarke said: 'They told me they'd do all they could to save her. She was having seizures during dialysis.
'I was told at one point there was a 70 per cent chance she'd recover. I still had hope.'
When Ms White's condition worsened, her mother Sue White flew out to Laos - arriving just as her daughter was being wheeled into emergency brain surgery.
Ms Clarke added: 'Her brain had started to swell and they had to shave her head. The surgery relieved the pressure but caused bleeding and the other side started swelling.'
The results confirming methanol poisoning would not arrive until two weeks later, by which time Ms White had died.
Ms Clarke is now petitioning for methanol and bootleg alcohol awareness to be included in schools - teaching students the risks of unregulated drinks abroad.
She said: 'With methanol poisoning, you don't think straight. It's like dementia - you can't make decisions, and you can't problem-solve.
'Organised crime is rife, you think alcohol is safe - but unless it's beer or alcohol you have purchased from duty free, anything else consumed is a gamble.
'People have died in restaurants, even after buying bottles from supermarkets. You just never know.'
She and her supporters are planning a hard-hitting educational video, similar in tone to drink-driving public service announcements shown in schools.
Her petition has so far garnered more than 3,000 signatures, towards a goal of 10,000.
She added: 'Even if people can't sign the petition, I want them to know about the risks.'
The other victims in Laos were 57-year-old American James Huston, two 19-year-old Australian women Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones and Danish friends Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Sorensen, 21.
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