Calum Macdonald’s ordeal started at a bustling hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, where free whisky and vodka shots were liberally offered. After a night of indulgence, he soon began to experience unsettling symptoms, recounting a whirling "kaleidoscopic blinding light" before realizing his vision had been compromised. He and his friends initially suspected food poisoning, yet upon arriving at their hotel in Vietnam, Calum was alarmed to discover they were sitting in the dark when the lights were, in fact, on.
At just 23, Calum is now blind and has become one of the faces of a tragic methanol poisoning incident that claimed six lives, including two Danish women he had socialized with. “We were lucky to escape with our lives, but it changed everything,” he shared. Following the aftermath, Calum is working alongside the families of other victims of methanol poisoning in Southeast Asia to raise awareness and push the government for clearer travel warnings.
Simone White, another victim, had been messaging her mother about her enjoyable trip just hours before her life dwindled away due to methanol poisoning. When her mother heard the news from a doctor in Laos urging for urgent brain surgery, it was already too late, and Simone lost her fight for life at just 28 years old.
Methanol, a toxic form of alcohol often used in industrial products, can inadvertently contaminate alcoholic beverages. This common issue, especially regarding cheap spirits in Southeast Asia, leads to hundreds of poisoning cases annually. Symptoms can mislead victims into believing they merely have a hangover, but fatal outcomes are possible with minimal ingestion.
The harrowing stories do not end with Calum and Simone. Kirsty McKie, who lived in Bali, succumbed to methanol poisoning after a night of casual drinking with friends, resulting in a lack of understanding as to why she passed away while others survived. The tragedy continued on Sumatra, where Cheznye Emmons was found dead after consuming gin containing lethal amounts of methanol, leaving her family in anguish.
The growing number of poisoning victims is prompting Calum and the families of the deceased to advise travelers against accepting free drinks. As Calum learns to navigate life with disabilities, he emphasizes his newfound responsibility to shed light on the perilous realities of traveling in regions affected by methanol poisoning.
The Foreign Office acknowledges the serious nature of methanol poisoning and continues to collaborate with local authorities to inform travelers of the risks. Through campaigns like Travel Aware, they hope to educate the public and prevent future tragedies caused by the dangers of contaminated alcohol.
