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The father of 19-year-old Holly Bowles, who died of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos last month, has said he was in “disbelief” when he realised his daughter would not pull through.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC, Shaun Bowles described Holly as “everything you’d want your daughter to be”. <\/p>\n
The Australian teenager had been travelling across South East Asia with her best friend Bianca Jones when they fell ill after drinking alcohol thought to be contaminated with methanol, a toxic substance sometimes added to bootleg drinks. <\/p>\n
They were among six foreign tourists to die over a few days in the small, riverside tourist town of Vang Vieng.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“They were having an unbelievable time, just having so much fun, doing what two 19-year-old girls should be doing,” Shaun Bowles told the BBC’s Today Programme.<\/p>\n
The grieving process, he said, has been made more manageable by the fact that he is “best friends” with Bianca’s father, Mark.<\/p>\n
Together, Mark and Shaun had travelled through Thailand on their own backpacking trip 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
“It’s just bizarre to be going through the same thing with your best friend. Just being together and just talking helps us get through the days,” he said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Holly and Bianca had planned their trip to celebrate their graduation from school. <\/p>\n
Since they’d been away, Shaun had spoken to his daughter every few days, while Holly’s mother, Sam, had spoken to her “every second”.<\/p>\n
“They were just having an absolute blast,” he said. <\/p>\n
The two teenagers were taken to hospital after they failed to check out of the Nana Backpacker hostel, where they were staying, and were found unresponsive. <\/p>\n
Shaun and his family received news they were unwell through a friend – and the two mothers flew out to Thailand that night.<\/p>\n
“When you’re getting second hand information… it was really hard to process exactly what sort of condition that they were in,” said Shaun. <\/p>\n
He and Bianca’s father, Mark, flew out the next day, by which point the girls were in a hospital in Udon Thani, over the border from Laos in Thailand.<\/p>\n
Bianca died on 21 November, and Holly a day later.<\/p>\n
“She was just full of life. She was confident, she was loving, she was just a true friend of people. She was everything you want your daughter to be,” said Shaun. <\/p>\n