Holly and Bianca’s fight for life after dream holiday turns into a nightmare
Just a few weeks ago, new footage reveals that Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones were two teenagers dancing in their bedroom for TikTok, about to have the adventure of a lifetime.
The two Melbourne teens mapped out their dream vacation through Asia, drinking in crowded bars, swimming on tropical beaches and living their best life on a gap year.
But one night at a busy bar in Laos, they find themselves in hospital fighting for life after their drinks were spiked with methanol from the jungle.
The best friends, both 19 years old, are now on ventilators in separate hospitals due to suspected methanol poisoning. Their parents are at their bedside in Bangkok and Udon Thani.
Authorities suspect they drank poisoned cocktails while on holiday in the party town of Vang Vieng, Laos.
The staff at Nana Backpackers Hostel became concerned when Holly and Bianca were unable to leave their room for almost an entire day.
They spent the day sleeping before finally asking the receptionist to take them to the hospital.
They were transported one by one by a hostel worker on his motorbike before both were transferred to separate hospitals in neighboring Thailand after their conditions rapidly deteriorated.
In a video from September, the best friends happily danced together
The video Bowles posted showed the couple riding mopeds and having a great time
The party town of Vang Vieng, Laos, is known for its nightlife
Heartbreaking CCTV footage from the hostel showed one of the girls being taken to hospital.
But three weeks before they got sick, the teens had a great time on their trip.
Bowles posted a video to TikTok with the caption, “Forever grateful for this place and its people,” followed by the Thailand flag emoji.
The video showed the friends checking out the jungle, singing karaoke, riding jet skis and generally having a great time.
Another video posted in September showed the pair happily dancing together. “Back and better than ever,” the caption read as the boogy was made to Michael Jackson.
The girls had gone on the trip to celebrate their recent 2023 graduation from Mentone Girls’ Grammar and Beaumaris Secondary College.
It is understood they planned to return home in time for Christmas.
Holly’s father Shaun Bowles spoke to media in Bangkok on Wednesday and said his daughter remains in a critical condition.
“She is on life support,” he told 7 NEWS.
The couple’s Melbourne football club called the news ‘tragic and disturbing’
‘We would like to thank everyone at home for all the support and love we receive, but we would also like people to appreciate that at this time we just need privacy so that we can spend as much time together as possible. Holly.’
At home, the friends both played for Beaumaris Football Club, who said on Wednesday their situation was ‘tragic and distressing’.
“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 club said.
‘We recognize that Holly and Bianca’s teammates and friends at the club are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.’
Meanwhile, the Lao bartender who served drinks to Bowles and Jones claimed it was not he who poisoned the girls.
Hostel manager Duong Duc Toan, who served the girls Tiger Vodka, said it was not his drink that made them sick.
Toan said he purchased the alcohol from a certified distributor and insisted he or his staff had not contaminated the alcohol.
He said the shots, a gesture of hospitality, were served to about 100 guests and that the hostel had received no further complaints.
The girls were staying at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Laos when they became ill
To prove his point, the bartender drank from one of the vodka bottles in use that night to prove it was safe.
Toan said Holly and Bianca were playing cards at the bar from 8pm to 10.30pm and had three drinks each during that time.
He poured them a Lao Pdr Tiger Vodka with 40 percent alcohol and mixed it with ice and Coke Zero.
Local media report that two other women in their 20s have died, along with a 56-year-old American man, and 10 others have fallen ill from the suspected mass poisoning.
Holly and Bianca’s ordeal is part of a suspected mass poisoning. A total of fourteen people are said to have become ill from the laced drinks – and two, probably Swedish citizens, have died.
Laos police have launched an investigation.