Latest news with #AshleyKing
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Science
- Daily Mirror
Perseid meteor shower: Where and when to see 100 fireballs shoot across sky
The Perseids meteor shower could bring up to 100 meteors per hour as it reaches its climax tomorrow across the UK - but where should stargazers head to get the best view? Stargazers can look forward to a spectacular show as the Perseids meteor shower will reach its peak tomorrow. It has been described by NASA as the "most popular meteor shower of the year". According to the Royal Observatory, the meteor shower has been active from July 17, and will go on until August 24. Over the course of the last few nights the showers have been intensifying and it is expected to culminate in its most brilliant display on Tuesday. Observers in the UK should expect to see meteors as soon as the Sun sets. Jupiter and Venus will also appear at their closest to Earth today and tomorrow, providing gazers with an opportunity to see the two celestial bodies. It comes after NATO scrambled warplanes as Russia shoots down West's F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine onslaught. NASA says tomorrow morning, the two planets will be roughly a degree apart and will shine brightest before sunrise. Meteorite expert Dr Ashley King, from London's Natural History Museum, suggested those wanting to see the meteor shower stand on a hill in the middle of the countryside - or head to a coast. Observers should try to avoid well-lit and built-up areas and try to find unobstructed views to make the most of the spectacle. Dr King said: "Once you get used to the low light levels, you'll begin to notice more and more. So don't give up too quickly." Stargazers should be aware that this year's Perseids shower may be hindered by the brightness of the moon, which is expected to be shining at around 84%. NASA says the glare of the moon is expected to wash out the brightest meteors, but suggested that witnesses counter this by standing behind a tall building or tree to block out some of the moonlight. The event has been recurring for centuries and occurs as a result of Earth passing through a cloud of dust left behind the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The meteors are typically small — no bigger than a grain of sand — and burn up as they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Entering at around 36 miles per second, the small pieces of material produce bright trails of light. The Perseids are named after Persus — the constellation where the meteors are believed to originate from, and are known for their fireballs. These are characterised by bigger explosions of light and colour that stay in the sky longer than an average meteor streak.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
I went blind after drinking a tainted cocktail while traveling — the scary threat you've never heard of
There could be an undetectable poison lurking in your vacation cocktail. A Canadian woman is warning social media users after she lost her eyesight from sipping a stealthily toxic cocktail overseas — and she says she's one of the lucky ones. In December, seven tourists were hospitalized in Fiji after drinking tainted booze at a luxury resort bar. Just a month earlier, six young travelers, including one American, died in Laos under similar circumstances. Each year, thousands are killed or sickened after unknowingly consuming alcoholic beverages laced with methanol. 'It smells no different and it tastes no different from the alcohol that we typically drink,' explained Ashley King, who lost her vision after drinking tainted booze while backpacking through Bali. Methanol is a clear, flammable liquid that smells almost identical to ethanol — its drinkable cousin — but don't be fooled: it's highly toxic to humans. 'Just as little as 30 milliliters of it — a shot — can kill you, and 15 milliliters of it can make you go blind, have organ failure, liver damage and even brain damage,' King warned. The chemical is commonly used in household and industrial products, such as gasoline, antifreeze, paint thinner and windshield wiper fluids. But on the black market, especially in developing countries, it's often dumped into bootleg alcohol to stretch supply and fatten profits. That toxic mix is then sold to bars, hotels and other establishments, where it's served to unsuspecting patrons. 'No different from any other night' That's what happened to King, who was visiting southern Bali in 2011 on a gap year before starting college. She and her friend were at a high-end bar, where she got drunk on vodka cocktails. 'It was no different from any other night that I'd had when I was there,' she said. Though she felt hungover the next day, she first suspected something was wrong about two days later when they arrived in Australia. 'I remember talking to the customs people and it was like I was drunk,' she told The Guardian. 'I could not form sentences in a way that sounded confident.' After landing in New Zealand, she went to sleep when they got to their hotel. When she woke up at noon the next day, she was confused to find her hotel room seemingly totally dark. But it wasn't dark — there was something wrong with her vision. She also couldn't breathe. At the hospital, a blood rest revealed methanol in her blood. It was bad enough that doctors were surprised she'd even woken up. 'Losing my eyesight is the hardest thing I've ever gone through, and I deal with it every single day,' King said on TikTok. The hidden danger lurking in your drink When methanol enters the body, it turns into formaldehyde and formic acid — both highly toxic — which causes the blood to become dangerously acidic, according to the Methanol Institute. Early symptoms can mimic an ordinary night out drinking: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, poor judgment and drowsiness. But things can go from bad to deadly within 12 to 24 hours of drinking — and in some cases, more severe symptoms take up to 72 hours to surface, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While a normal hangover fades, methanol poisoning only gets worse. Victims may suffer severe abdominal pain, vomiting, vertigo, trouble breathing, confusion, headaches and blurry vision. In more severe cases, blindness, seizures and coma can follow. The Institute says methanol poisoning can often be treated if doctors intervene within 10 to 30 hours. One surprising thing that can help? Drinking alcohol. While she was in the hospital, King says she was given several vodkas with orange juice to flush the methanol from her system. 'It was the most absurd drinking game I've ever played,' she said. 'The drunker I got the more I could breathe, the more I was able to see.' They also give her hemodialysis to filter waste from the blood, plus steroids to try to fix her eyes — but she was left with only about 2% vision, which she describes as 'like snowfall or a TV screen.' 'I've never felt so alone in my life,' she said. 'Three days ago, I had had my entire life ahead of me. And now you're telling me that I'm blind?' How to avoid the poison pour While the problem is global, statistics show that Asia has the highest prevalence of methanol poisoning worldwide, with outbreaks commonly occurring in Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, according to Doctors Without Borders. Since 2019, the group has tracked more than 1,000 incidents that have poisoned over 40,000 people and killed roughly 14,200. The fatality rate in an outbreak is often reported to be 20% to 40%. Last month, the US Embassy in Jordan issued a warning after a rash of methanol-related deaths linked to locally made booze — and offered some tips for travelers looking to avoid similar fates. Start by sticking to alcohol sold in licensed liquor stores, bars, hotels and established markets. Skip street vendors and informal setups. If the drink is dirt cheap, there's probably a reason — counterfeit alcohol is often sold for a fraction of the real thing. And don't accept free drinks from strangers. At the bar, watch your drink being made. If it smells off or tastes strange, ditch it. You should also avoid homemade liquor or local spirits. When in doubt, especially in unfamiliar places, skip the hard stuff altogether. Prepackaged options like beer, cider, wine or duty-free liquor are generally safer and harder to tamper with. Before cracking open any bottle, inspect it for signs of tampering — poor label quality, broken seals or obvious spelling errors are all red flags. And of course, never let your drink out of sight. While abroad, the office said it's smart to sign up for travel alerts from your government's foreign-affairs department or local embassy. Keeping tabs on local news and knowing how to reach emergency services can also make all the difference, just in case that nightcap turns into a nightmare. 'This doesn't need to happen. But it does, and not enough people know about it. Because of this, I'm sharing my story,' King said. She's also launched a petition to spread awareness and encourage education on the dangers in both schools and airports. Solve the daily Crossword
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Woman who went blind after drinking tainted cocktail issues chilling warning: ‘A shot can kill you'
A Canadian woman who lost her eyesight after she drank a toxic cocktail while on a holiday in Bali is now warning social media users to be careful while consuming booze. Her warning comes months after seven tourists were hospitalised in Fiji after drinking tainted booze at a luxury resort bar and six travellers died in Laos under similar circumstances. The chemical is usually used to stretch the supply of cheap alcohol in some countries and sold to bars and hotels to earn profits.(Representational) The tourists got sick or died after they unknowingly consumed alcoholic beverages mixed with methanol. 'It smells no different and it tastes no different from the alcohol that we typically drink,' said Ashley King, who went blind after drinking a cocktail laced with methanol while backpacking through Bali. While methanol, which is clear and colourless, smells like ethanol, it's extremely toxic to humans and is used in gasoline, paint thinner and wiper fluids. 'Just as little as 30 millilitres of it or a shot can kill you, and 15 millilitres of it can make you go blind, have organ failure, liver damage and even brain damage,' she warned. The chemical is usually used to stretch the supply of cheap alcohol in some countries and sold to bars and hotels to earn profits. King visited Bali in 2011 before starting college and drank vodka cocktails at a high-end bar. For the next wo days, she suffered a bad hangover but dismissed it until she reached New Zealand and went to sleep. When she woke up, she could not see anything in her room. Rushed to the hospital, the methanol found in her blood was so high that doctors were shocked to see her awake. 'Losing my eyesight is the hardest thing I've ever gone through, and I deal with it every single day,' she said in a TikTok video. While early symptoms can be like a hangover, including dizziness, nausea and vomiting, within 72 hours, these can turn into blurry vision, trouble breathing and severe abdominal pain. Doctors say methanol poisoning can be treated if medical help is sought within 10 to 30 hours. Surprisingly, drinking alcohol can help flush methanol from the system. Statistics show that Asia has the highest prevalence of methanol poisoning in countries like Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Some tips to avoid methanol poisoning include sticking to alcohol sold in licensed liquor stores, bars, hotels, and established markets, refusing free drinks from strangers and when in doubt, choosing pre-packaged options like beer or wine.
New York Post
5 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
I went blind after drinking a tainted cocktail while traveling — the scary threat you've never heard of
There could be an undetectable poison lurking in your vacation cocktail. A Canadian woman is warning social media users after she lost her eyesight from sipping a stealthily toxic cocktail overseas — and she says she's one of the lucky ones. In December, seven tourists were hospitalized in Fiji after drinking tainted booze at a luxury resort bar. Just a month earlier, six young travelers, including one American, died in Laos under similar circumstances. Advertisement 6 Ashley King wasn't born blind. She lost her eyesight after drinking a poisoned alcoholic beverage abroad. TikTok / @ashkng Each year, thousands are killed or sickened after unknowingly consuming alcoholic beverages laced with methanol. 'It smells no different and it tastes no different from the alcohol that we typically drink,' explained Ashley King, who lost her vision after drinking tainted booze while backpacking through Bali. Methanol is a clear, flammable liquid that smells almost identical to ethanol — its drinkable cousin — but don't be fooled: it's highly toxic to humans. Advertisement 'Just as little as 30 milliliters of it — a shot — can kill you, and 15 milliliters of it can make you go blind, have organ failure, liver damage and even brain damage,' King warned. The chemical is commonly used in household and industrial products, such as gasoline, antifreeze, paint thinner and windshield wiper fluids. But on the black market, especially in developing countries, it's often dumped into bootleg alcohol to stretch supply and fatten profits. Advertisement That toxic mix is then sold to bars, hotels and other establishments, where it's served to unsuspecting patrons. 6 If ingested, methanol can cause severe health issues. kittisak – 'No different from any other night' That's what happened to King, who was visiting southern Bali in 2011 on a gap year before starting college. She and her friend were at a high-end bar, where she got drunk on vodka cocktails. Advertisement 'It was no different from any other night that I'd had when I was there,' she said. Though she felt hungover the next day, she first suspected something was wrong about two days later when they arrived in Australia. 'I remember talking to the customs people and it was like I was drunk,' she told The Guardian. 'I could not form sentences in a way that sounded confident.' After landing in New Zealand, she went to sleep when they got to their hotel. When she woke up at noon the next day, she was confused to find her hotel room seemed to be totally dark. But it wasn't dark — there was something wrong with her vision. She also couldn't breathe. 6 Ashley (pictured on her gap year in 2011) didn't know anything was wrong with her drink while out with a friend in Bali. Instagram / @ashkng At the hospital, a blood rest revealed methanol in her blood. It was bad enough that doctors were surprised she'd even woken up. 'Losing my eyesight is the hardest thing I've ever gone through, and I deal with it every single day,' King said on TikTok. The hidden danger lurking in your drink Advertisement When methanol enters the body, it turns into formaldehyde and formic acid — both highly toxic — which causes the blood to become dangerously acidic, according to the Methanol Institute. Early symptoms can mimic an ordinary night out drinking: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, poor judgment and drowsiness. But things can go from bad to deadly within 12 to 24 hours of drinking — and in some cases, more severe symptoms take up to 72 hours to surface, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While a normal hangover fades, methanol poisoning only gets worse. Victims may suffer severe abdominal pain, vomiting, vertigo, trouble breathing, confusion, headaches and blurry vision. Advertisement In more severe cases, blindness, seizures and coma can follow. 6 At the hospital — where doctors were surprised she'd made it alive — she had to drink vodka to help flush the methanol from her system. Instagram / @ashkng The Institute says methanol poisoning can often be treated if doctors intervene within 10 to 30 hours. One surprising thing that can help? Drinking alcohol. While she was in the hospital, King says she was given several vodkas with orange juice to flush the methanol from her system. Advertisement 'It was the most absurd drinking game I've ever played,' she said. 'The drunker I got the more I could breathe, the more I was able to see.' They also give her hemodialysis to filter waste from the blood, plus steroids to try to fix her eyes — but she was left with only about 2% vision, which she describes as 'like snowfall or a TV screen.' 'I've never felt so alone in my life,' she said. 'Three days ago, I had had my entire life ahead of me. And now you're telling me that I'm blind?' 6 The early signs of methanol poisoning might not raise any red flags after a night of drinking. Tunatura – How to avoid the poison pour Advertisement While the problem is global, statistics show that Asia has the highest prevalence of methanol poisoning worldwide, with outbreaks commonly occurring in Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, according to Doctors Without Borders. Since 2019, the group has tracked more than 1,000 incidents that have poisoned over 40,000 people and killed roughly 14,200. The fatality rate in an outbreak is often reported to be 20% to 40%. Last month, the US Embassy in Jordan issued a warning after a rash of methanol-related deaths linked to locally made booze — and offered some tips for travelers looking to avoid similar fates. Start by sticking to alcohol sold in licensed liquor stores, bars, hotels and established markets. Skip street vendors and informal setups. If the drink is dirt cheap, there's probably a reason — counterfeit alcohol is often sold for a fraction of the real thing. And don't accept free drinks from strangers. At the bar, watch your drink being made. If it smells off or tastes strange, ditch it. You should also avoid homemade liquor or local spirits. When in doubt, especially in unfamiliar places, skip the hard stuff altogether. Pre-packaged options like beer, cider, wine or duty-free liquor are generally safer and harder to tamper with. 6 If you suspect you've been exposed to methanol, contact emergency services right away. Jair – Before cracking open any bottle, inspect it for signs of tampering — poor label quality, broken seals or obvious spelling errors are all red flags. And of course, never let your drink out of sight. While abroad, the office said it's smart to sign up for travel alerts from your government's foreign-affairs department or local embassy. Keeping tabs on local news and knowing how to reach emergency services can also make all the difference, just in case that nightcap turns into a nightmare. 'This doesn't need to happen. But it does, and not enough people know about it. Because of this, I'm sharing my story,' King said. She's also launched a petition to spread awareness and encourage education on the dangers in both schools and airpots.
The Irish Sun
30-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
I was on brink of death after trip of a lifetime turned into a nightmare with one drink – this is my warning to everyone
DOWNING shot after shot of vodka just hours after landing in New Zealand, backpacker Ashley King could feel herself becoming tipsy. But the then 19-year-old wasn't aiming to get drunk, these shots were a matter of life or death. 9 On her last evening in Bali, Ashley King ordered a fruity cocktail - little did she know it would change her entire life 9 She was lucky to survive what followed but is still living with the devastating consequences of that night Ashley wasn't in a bar but rather a hospital with medics administering the spirit to counteract the deadly methanol that was slowly killing the student. Just 24 hours earlier on the tourist strip of Kuta - on the southern tip of Little did she know it would change her entire life. 'I drank a cocktail laced with deadly methanol,' says Ashley, 32 who now lives in Calgary, Canada. 'It made me go blind and from there my life changed forever. 'It was just like any other drink I'd been served during my trip and it tasted totally normal." Waking up the next morning Ashley admits she was tired and felt a little nauseous but had swerved the worst hangover symptoms as she headed to catch her flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. But while Ashley was hangover-free, she didn't realise the devastating consequences that night in August 2011 would have on her entire life. She says: 'When I got on the plane to leave When Ashley landed in New Zealand she found herself "feeling odd" as she made her way through customs. Grieving parents lead emotional tributes to 'beautiful' Brit lawyer poisoned by 'methanol-laced booze' in Laos She recalls: 'I struggled talking to customs officials. "I wasn't making any sense and I felt like I was going to throw up. 'I tried to convince myself it was the effects of a long flight but I knew deep down something was wrong." She was feeling worse as every minute passed. 'I felt uncoordinated and ran to the toilet feeling sick," says Ashley. 'I thought it might be a bug, I had no idea what was to come." Desperately trying to get herself together in the toilets, an airport staff member spotted Ashley and came to her aid. 'I must have looked like a proper fright, the woman was so kind and offered to drive me to my hotel,' Ashley recalls. 9 The then-19-year-old backpacker travelled on to New Zealand after Bali and found herself 'feeling odd' as she made her way through customs 9 Just 24 hours after having the drink, Ashley's vision began to go - and would never come back 9 The brave traveller has continued her adventures around the world in the years after the incident She got to her hotel room around 5pm, less than 24 hours since she had left Bali, where she tried to sleep off her symptoms. When she woke up Ashley assumed it was the early hours of the morning as everything was dim. 'I thought my iPod had died because I couldn't see the screen,' she says. 'I was annoyed because I thought the lamp I'd left on must have fused in the night as it was off." Ashley opened her door to use a communal bathroom and was greeted by what she thought was a darkened hallway. 'The hallway looked like all the lights were off," she says. "I could barely make out the floor, all I could see was a little light under the cracks of the doorways." After stumbling to the loo, Ashley realised she had locked her key in her room and visited to reception for a new one. 'I felt like I'd run a marathon getting back to my room from reception," she admits. "I'm an asthmatic and I couldn't catch my breath. I thought I was suffocating. Begged for help She struggled back to reception where she begged for help. It was then Ashley was hit by another shock when the receptionist explained that it was midday. 'I couldn't believe it, all I could see was shapes and barely colour,' Ashley recalls. 'I was terrified.' With her vision getting worse by the second, the receptionist drove Ashley to the nearest hospital. 'I kept running my hands over my face trying to make myself see or just make sense of where I was,' she says. 'I was alone in a new country, and I was relying on someone I didn't know to get me to the emergency room. 'I felt like I was suffocating, literally from my asthma attack as well as from the sheer terror of losing my sight.' I was told that I could be blind forever or worse, I might not make it through the night Ashley King At the Christchurch Hospital the teen was questioned by doctors who asked her whether she had taken any drugs. It wasn't until Ashley's blood tests came back that the awful truth of what had happened came out. 'I was told I had methanol poisoning and this was desperately serious,' Ashley recalls. 'I was told that I could be blind forever and I might not even make it through the night." Methanol is an industrial chemical found in antifreeze and windscreen washer fluid. It's not meant to be drunk by people and a mouthful of pure methanol, which is odourless and tasteless, is fatal. In some Asian countries and other popular tourist destinations, methanol can be found in bootleg liquor - homemade alcohol with methanol added and sold at very low cost to unscrupulous bar owners. It's cheaper than ethanol, so black market alcohol sellers add it to spirits to save costs, before the counterfeit alcohol is rebottled and sold in shops and bars. Between 2009 and 2014 British Government figures reveal three Brits died from methanol poisoning in Bali while most recently in November last year, Simone's best friend, another Brit For Ashley, her poisoning meant she was now only experiencing blindness, but her breathing had become so bad she was begging to be intubated. 'The consultant refused and rang my mother," she says. "She's a nurse and told them to do whatever it took to help me." 'Whatever it took'' was Ashley having to drink more than five shots of vodka as rapidly as possible. 'It sounds crazy but one of the only ways to quickly limit the impact of methanol on the body is to make a victim drink alcohol," she explains. I burst into tears and cried hysterically Ashley King Ashley was told ethanol, which is in alcohol and found in higher concentrations like vodka, acts as a competitive inhibitor to the methanol. The vodka's ethanol more effectively bound and saturated the alcohol enzyme in Ashley's liver blocking the way the methanol attacked her body. 'It temporarily paralysed the toxic impact of the methanol in my system," she says. 'I was handed plastic cups with orange juice and vodka and told to down them as quickly as I could." The results of what Ashley described as 'the most bizarre drinking game ever' was her breathing returned to normal, and she started to see shapes and colours again. 'I was totally wasted, extremely drunk and happy – I was giggling and laughing, and able to breathe properly and see again,' she says. Ashley was immediately taken to the intensive care unit for the next phase of methanol poisoning treatment. The teen was put on haemodialysis, which is a way to filter her blood removing the waste, salt, and water because her kidneys couldn't cope with methanol removal. The ICU team knew making her drink vodka was only a temporary fix to slow down the poisoning. They had no idea whether she'd be alive long enough to see her mum who was flying in from Canada. 'When I woke up in the ICU I was confused," Ashley says. "I didn't properly understand the seriousness of the situation. I thought given the quick doctor-prescribed alcohol-fix I'd be off backpacking the next day. 'But as the hours wore on my doctor-induced a hangover began and fear crept in. 'I don't remember much because the hemodialysis was actually cleaning my blood of toxins. 'I couldn't see that well but I felt I was on the road to recovery.' Three days after her farewell Bali cocktail and before her mum arrived Ashley was sober enough to be told by her ICU team leader that, despite earlier hope of improvement, she was blind and there was almost no chance her sight would ever improve from its current state. Why is methanol so deadly? By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent METHANOL is a super-toxic version of alcohol that may be present in drinks if added by crooks to make them stronger or if they are brewed or distilled badly. The consequences can be devastating because as little as a single shot of contaminated booze could be deadly, with just 4ml of methanol potentially enough to cause blindness. Prof Oliver Jones, a chemist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said: 'The body converts methanol to formic acid. 'Formic acid blocks the action of an enzyme that is critical to how the body uses oxygen to generate energy. 'If it stops working, cells cannot take up or use oxygen from the blood and lack of oxygen causes problems in a range of organs as the cells start to die. 'Symptoms of methanol poisoning include vomiting, seizures and dizziness. 'The optic nerve seems to be particularly vulnerable to methanol toxicity, so there is the potential for temporary or permanent blindness, and even death. 'While thankfully rare, methanol poisoning is very serious, and treatment should be given at a hospital.' An unexpected but key way of treating methanol poisoning is to get the patient drunk with normal alcohol - known as ethanol - to distract the liver and stop it processing the methanol. 9 In November last year, British lawyer Simone White tragically died from suspected methanol poisoning at a bar in Laos Credit: Tim Stewart 9 Her friend Bethany King was one of the Brits to survive 'I burst into tears and cried hysterically,' she says. Finally with her mum by her side in hospital, Ashley underwent an intensive course of intravenous steroids to try and slow the swelling on her optic nerve which was causing the blindness as it had been ravaged by the methanol and its toxins. She gained enough sight to identify colours and shade as well as shapes and a day later she could read for a short period of time. 'Initially I could see shapes, then things came back into focus but my sight didn't last," she says. A few days later the words she was reading started blurring and the terrifying darkness and blindness returned. There was nothing more hospital staff could do but send her back to the hotel with steroid tablets and directions to stay in darkness and see if there was an improvement. I lay there and every day the nightmare got worse. I wasn't just learning to cope with a 'new normal' of blindness but the loss of my future Ashley King For almost four weeks all Ashley could do was lie on the bed listening to the songs on her iPod, being helped outside by her mum and taken to the hospital for regular checkups. 'I'd sleep and dream in vivid colour and wake up to darkness,' Ashley says. 'I lay there and every day the nightmare got worse. 'I wasn't just learning to cope with a 'new normal' of blindness but the loss of my future. 'The career I planned was dead, I thought I'd never go to university, never get married or have kids and I'd be bed bound and blind. 'I thought my life was over.' When Ashley and her mum finally returned to Calgary Ashley moved into her parents' basement as her room was being rented out. 'My parents were amazing but by now my grief had reached the anger phase,' she says. 'I hated the world, I was angry with everyone, and I was just awful to anyone in the house. 'I was alone in my loss of sight, the loss of the ability to put on my own make-up, shop for new clothes, cook my own food or even cross the street. 'It's overwhelming.' Slowly though Ashley admits her anger phase gave way to determination and denial. 'I had salt and pepper or snow blizzard vision. Doctors describe it as 2% sight,' she says. I am your living walking reality check - please listen to what happened to me so it doesn't become your nightmare Ashley King 'It's like your world is static on television, that's all you see except for the occasional shape. 'I tried to carry on as normal and meet friends but when I tried to cross a road and got hit by a car, 'I luckily didn't suffer any injuries but it served as a wake up call for me. I realised some parts of my life had to change. 'I came to the realisation that if I were to regain part of my old life I needed help to learn to live with my disability.' Ashley received support from local blind awareness charities and learned to use a magnifying kit to try and enable her to read some words. 'I refused to have a guide dog, use a white cane, or wear dark glasses,' she says. 'I didn't want special treatment. I wanted to be normal and treated normally.' And with patience, Ashley was able to find her new normal. Holiday warning In 2013, two years after the methanol poisoning Ashley was backpacking again not just in Canada but across the globe. She explains: 'I've visited seven countries in South America, Europe, and India. I spent nine months in Southampton doing an exchange in January 2016. 'I achieved my goal of going to university and graduated with a degree in journalism.' Ashley is now working as an actor and playwright having completed a Master Class Actor training program. Ashley wrote a play STATIC: A Party Girls Memoir about her experience and it is now available as a four-part podcast on Spotify. She also went on to find love with long-term boyfriend, Trent, 35, a goldmine project manager who she met online in May 2020. 'I have become a new me with a new normal and I am shining,' she says. 'What happened to me taught me to be braver. 'While it should never have happened, I cannot give into the anger and depression which wracked me in the days and months after the poisoning occurred.' Ashley is urging all Brits travelling to Bali and parts of Asia known for outbreaks of methanol poisoning to adopt a 'DRINK BEER AND STEER CLEAR' policy. 'Before I was blind, I loved my cocktails and spirit mixes,' she says. 'Now when I travel its beer or canned cocktails or canned wines – to ensure there has been no tampering. 'Now it's my job to warn the millions of Brits planning summer holidays this could also happen to you. 'I was not a silly teenager being wild on an overseas holiday. I was a careful and aware traveller. 'I am your living walking reality check - please listen to what happened to me so it doesn't become your nightmare.' 9 Ashley says she has learned to accept her 'new normal' 9 She now wants to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking overseas
