The father of Holly Bowles, 19, who died of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos last month, said he was in “disbelief” when he realized his daughter would not survive.
Speaking to the BBC, Shaun Bowles described Holly as “everything you would want your daughter to be”.
The Australian teenager was traveling through Southeast Asia with her best friend Bianca Jones when they fell ill after drinking alcohol suspected of being contaminated with methanol, a toxic substance sometimes added to drinks. smuggling.
They were among six foreign tourists who died within days in the small riverside tourist town of Vang Vieng.
“They were having an amazing time, having so much fun, doing what two 19-year-old girls should do,” Shaun Bowles told the BBC's Today programme.
Shaun had spoken to his daughter every few days since she began her hiking trip, planned to celebrate her graduation.
Holly's mother, Sam, spoke to him “every second”, he said.
“They were really having fun.”
The two men were taken to hospital after failing to leave the Nana Backpacker hostel, where they were staying, and were found unconscious in their dormitory.
Sean and his family learned that Holly and Bianca were not doing well from a friend of the girls. Both mothers flew to Thailand that night.
“When you get second-hand information…it was very difficult to determine exactly what type of condition they were in,” Shaun said.
He and Bianca's father, Mark, flew out the next day, and the girls were then in a hospital in Udon Thani, across the border from Laos in Thailand.
Bianca died on November 21 and Holly a day later.
“She was full of life. She was confident, she was loving, she was just a real friend to people. She was everything you want your daughter to be,” Shaun said.
The grieving process, he said, was made more manageable by the fact that he is Bianca's father Mark's “best friend.”
Together, Mark and Shaun had traveled through Thailand on their own backpacking trip 25 years ago.
“It's just weird going through the same thing with your best friend. Just being together and talking helps us get through the days.”
Now, Sean says, his goal is to educate other young people backpacking through Southeast Asia about methanol poisoning.
“We absolutely want whoever is responsible for this to be brought to justice, and we will do everything we can to make sure that is the case,” he said.
The other four victims were identified as Simone White, a 28-year-old British lawyer; James Louis Hutson, a 57-year-old American; and Danish citizens Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21.
Eight people were arrested in connection with this case.
