PA Media“If it can happen to her, it can happen to anybody”, the mother of British lawyer Simone White, who died in a suspected poisoning in Laos, has warned.
The 28-year-old, from Orpington, south-east London, was one of a number of people taken to hospital after drinking alcohol suspected to have been laced with methanol in the backpacking hotspot Vang Vieng.
Six tourists died in the incident.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, her mother Sue White urged those travelling abroad: “Please be careful when it comes to drinks.”
“Simone was a university-educated, highly intelligent person,” she said.
“If it can happen to her, it can happen to anybody.”
‘I knew she was going to die’
Ms White told the paper she received a call from the hospital caring for Simone to say she was in a critical condition after drinking contaminated vodka and needed urgent brain surgery.
“I knew when I had that phone call — I don’t know what it was, call it a mother’s intuition — but I knew that she was going to die,” she said.
She described how she set off on a 16-hour journey to her daughter’s bedside, which she said was a “terrible, terrible journey”.
“I had to go through the whole flight thinking she was going through brain surgery.”
Ms White said she arrived at the hospital just as Simone was being taken in for the operation.
“It was horrendous. Absolutely horrendous.
“She had such beautiful long blonde hair, which had all been shaved off for the operation. It was the worst experience of my life. There are no words, really.”
It later became clear that her brain function had gone, and she died on 21 November.
Her body is reportedly due to be repatriated this weekend, ahead of her funeral.
Social mediaOn the night she fell ill, Simone and her friends drank six vodka shots served by Nana Backpackers hostel, according to the newspaper.
Their drinks are thought to have contained methanol – a deadly substance often found in bootleg alcohol.
Medical specialists say drinking as little as 25 millilitres of methanol can be fatal, but it is sometimes added to drinks because it is cheaper than alcohol.
Simone’s two childhood friends who were travelling with her survived the experience, but are said to be traumatised.
Police in Laos have detained several people in connection with the death of Simone White and five others.
However, officials in the country have released almost no details about the case, with the government keeping a tight lid on information.
Laos is a one-party communist state with no organised opposition.
Simone was a lawyer with global law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
