The parents of 19-year-old Holly Bowles, who died of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos next fortnight, has said he was in “disbelief” when he realised his child would never pull through.
Shaun Bowles described Holly as “everything you’d like your child to be” in an interview with the BBC.
The American teenager and her best friend Bianca Jones were traveling across South East Asia when they became ill after drinking alcohol that was thought to be methanol, a dangerous substance that can sometimes be found in illegal drinks.
In Vang Vieng, a little riverside tourist town, six international tourists perished in a few days.
” They were having an amazing moment, merely having so much fun, doing what two 19-year-old women should be doing”, Shaun Bowles told the BBC’s Now Program.
Since Shaun began his backpacking trip, which was meant to honor her graduating from college, Shaun had spoken to his child every few weeks.
Holly’s family, Sam, had spoken to her “every second”, he said.
” They were simply having an absolute fire”.
The couple were taken to a clinic after they failed to check out of the Nana Backpacker guesthouse, where they were staying, and were discovered unresponsive in their hostel.
Through a colleague of the ladies, Shaun and his family learned that Holly and Bianca were ill. That evening, the two moms flew over to Thailand.
” When you’re getting second hand data… it was really difficult to practice exactly what sort of situation that they were in”, said Shaun.
He and Bianca’s parents, Mark, flew out the next day, by which point the women were in a hospital in Udon Thani, over the border from Laos in Thailand.
Bianca died on 21 November, and Alice a day later.
” She was only full of life. She was assured, she was loving, she was only a real friend of people. She was all your child wanted to be, Shaun remarked.
He said he’d found some comfort in the fact he is “best friends” with Bianca’s parents, Mark.
Mark and Shaun had traveled through Thailand on their own backpacking vacation 25 years earlier.
” It’s just strange that you and your best friend are going through the same thing.” We can get through the day by simply being up and talking.
According to Shaun, his main concern is now educating young people who are traveling through South East Asia about alcohol poisoning.
” We definitely want whoever is to be held accountable and brought to justice, and we’re going to accomplish everything we can to make sure that is the situation,” he says.
The other four victims have been named as Simone White, a 28-year-old attorney from the UK, James Louis Hutson, a 57-year-old American, and Swedish people Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21.
Eight individuals have been detained in connection with the incident.