Parents of two Melbourne teenagers hospitalized after methanol poisoning in Laos provide updates on the situation

Best friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles were on a dream holiday in Southeast Asia when they fell horribly ill after consuming alcoholic beverages containing methanol, a toxic chemical often found in cleaning products.

The 19-year-olds were staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, while they consumed the tainted drinks, but are now fighting for their lives in separate hospitals in Bangkok while their families endure a desperate wait at their bedside.

Speaking to the Herald Sun on Wednesday, Bianca Jones’ family thanked the community for the support they had received and said they had lived through “every parent’s nightmare”.

“Our family has been overwhelmed by the messages of love and support from across Australia,” the parents said.

“This is every parent’s nightmare and we want to make sure no other family has to endure the pain we have.”

Ms Bowles’ father also told the paper that the family wanted to thank everyone for the “support and love” they had received in Australia before providing an update on his daughter’s condition.

“Our daughter is currently in intensive care, her condition is critical. She is on life support,” said the father.

The parents’ statements came as friends and team-mates from the local football club where both girls played prepared to gather together to support the girls.

Beaumaris Football Club released a statement on Wednesday afternoon expressing its support for the girls, their families and community members struggling with the news.

“Beaumaris Football Club offers its love, best wishes and unconditional support to Holly and Bianca in their time of need,” said club chairman Nick Heath.

“Our deepest thoughts are with his parents, Samantha and Shaun Bowles, Michelle and Mark Jones, as well as their extended family and friends. “The situation that occurred while both girls were traveling in Southeast Asia is tragic and distressing.”

Mr Heath said the girls were “valued members” of Beaumaris Football Club and described how both girls had progressed through the junior program, with Miss Bowles playing senior football in the VAFA Women’s Grade B competition this year.

“Both girls first achieved distinction by playing in BFC premiership teams together in 2022, with Holly adding another premiership as part of the coveted U18 Division 1 Girls Grand Final winning team in 2023,” he said.

“Through their actions and involvement in the girls’ and women’s football programs, both Holly and Bianca have become much loved and highly respected members of the Beaumaris Sharks family.”

The football club president provided a number of phone numbers and email addresses for those struggling with the news to get support.

“We accept that Holly and Bianca’s team-mates and friends at the club are finding it difficult to accept what has happened. Now more than ever, the Sharks Community needs to lean on each other for both comfort and support,” Mr Heath said.

Members of Beaumaris Football Club plan to come together in support of Ms Jones and Ms Bowles in the coming days.

Methanol is a toxic alcohol found in household and industrial products, and drinking just 25 to 90 ml of the chemical can be fatal.

But the toxic chemical is sometimes added to bootleg alcoholic beverages as a cheap alternative to ethanol (the standard alcohol in alcoholic beverages).

According to Professor David Ranson of Monash University’s department of forensic science, this happens in some places “all over the world,” he said, with a cluster of cases in Southeast Asia in recent years.

“These outbreaks are often associated with the modification or dilution of alcoholic beverages by adding methanol to make them go further,” Professor Ranson said.

“And of course methanol is a cheaper alcohol. It is an effective industrial cleaner and therefore easy to obtain and add to beverages.”

In a chilling warning to tourists, Professor Ranson explained that the average traveler has “no way” of knowing whether it is in their drink as it is “odorless, colourless and tasteless”.

It was reported that ten people were affected by the mass methanol poisoning incident and two Swedish citizens died as a result.

The incident led the government to update its travel advice for Laos, with the Smartraveller website warning Australian tourists about the dangers of methanol poisoning.