Melbourne teen's lucky escape in Laos
February 16, 2012Melbourne teen's lucky escape in Laos
Yahoo!7February 16, 2012,
A Melbourne teenager is lucky to be alive after drinking free whisky on a holiday in Laos.
19-year-old Annika Morris and friend Melba Blyth-Elvin were in Vang Vieng to go tubing, an activity popular with young backpackers.
She had drunk a shot of potent local spirit on Monday night, believed to be called Lao-Lao whisky, which can be infused with scorpions or snakes.
When her hearing and her sight began to fail, her friend rushed her to a local hospital.
Annika’s dad Jeff told the Fairfax media that if her friend hadn’t been there, she would have been “another statistic”.
"She shouldn't really have survived, that's the sobering thing. She should've died on the river," Mr Morris said.
Melba told the doctors of Annika’s penicillin allergy and then a visiting German doctor performed CPR.
According to Mr Morris, "My understanding is her heart stopped on numerous occasions."
The girls have now returned to Melbourne and are said to be shocked by the near tragedy.
It comes after three separate incidents involving Australians in Laos.
Last week, a 22-year-old Alexander Lee was found lying next to his girlfriend Rianne Brouwer at a backpackers hotel Nongkio Village.
Two other Australian men have died in Laos this year. 19-year-old Daniel Eimutis from Melbourne died while tubing and 26-year-old Lee Hudswell from Sydney died in a flying fox accident, both in Vang Vieng.
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