Proper news from Britain - News from Britain you won’t find anywhere else. Not the tosh the big media force-feed you every day!
During a trip to Bali in 2011, Ashley King, 19, was enjoying all of what Indonesian nightlife had to offer. She went out to a bar with friends, thinking she would have some fun and make memories - not come home with a permanent disability.
In the midst of the drinking and dancing, King unknowingly consumed a cocktail spiked with methanol.
The tainted beverage tasted and smelled like all of her others, and it wasn't until days later, when symptoms began to set in, that she realized something was seriously wrong.
Now 33, King shared the horrific ordeal exclusively with the Daily Mail while issuing a stark warning to others.
King - a Canadian from Calgary, Alberta - explained that she took a gap year from college and spent it traveling through Australia. Considering the proximity to Indonesia, she decided to head to Bali for a few days.
While there, she went to a nightclub in Kuta - a beachside town near the island's southern tip that has become well known for its stunning resorts and party-centric atmosphere.
'I ordered a vodka-based, fruity cocktail,' she told the Daily Mail. 'The bartender made it, and I was with a group of Australian friends I made that night.'
Two days later, King said she started to feel 'confused, anxious and nauseous' but brushed it off as stress from traveling. By the third day, she woke up struggling to breathe and couldn't see.
'My vision was starting to go. Within the hour, I was in the dark - blind and unable to breathe - so I was rushed to hospital,' she said.
At first, doctors were stumped by her sudden onset of symptoms. But a blood test soon revealed 'a large amount of methanol in her system.'
Methanol is a solvent used in many chemicals including antifreeze and windshield washer fluid.
It is toxic and described as 'extremely dangerous' if ingested, per the National Institutes of Health. It causes vision problems, permanent damage to your central nervous system, and in extreme cases, death.
Doctors weren't sure if King was going to survive.
'They called my family back in Canada and told them to get on the first flight [out] as there was a good chance I would not make it,' she told the Daily Mail. 'It was absolutely shocking and terrifying.'
They started treatment immediately - which involved King consuming pure alcohol to stop the methanol from metabolizing in her body.
'The drunker they got me, the more I could see and the more I could breathe. continued. I then had... all my methanol tainted blood removed.'
Soon after the life-saving procedure, King learned that her optic nerves had been damaged, meaning she would never get her vision back fully - she can only see shapes and contrast.
'I felt like my entire life was over and that I'd never have a normal life or do all the things I was planning,' she told the Daily Mail, recalling her reaction to the news that her eyes had been permanently damaged.
'I thought, 'I'll never get married, have a family, a career, a life with purpose.' The blindness diagnosis felt like a death sentence.
'I had to learn how to live my life all over again. From learning to cross the street, to getting dressed and doing my makeup.
'I lost friends and a clear path of how my life was going to move forward. I had to grieve a life I always envisioned for myself.'
Now, more than a decade later, King has learned to live with her disability. But she said it has taken 'plenty of therapy and years' to accept what happened to her.
'It still affects me to this day,' she told the Daily Mail.
'I'm reminded every day when I open my eyes about my lack of eyesight, but I aim to move forward and move on with my life - hopefully, bringing about change and making the most of what I've been dealt.'
King recently started a petition on Change.org in a bid to 'educate travelers on the dangers of methanol poisoning' via educational programming in schools and brochure distribution in airports. It has over 22,000 signatures.
She hopes her story she can help protect other travelers from enduring the same fate.
King shared her message for others with the Daily Mail: 'Be wary of drinking abroad. Be safe and avoid cocktails made at the bar that can come from bottles that have been tainted with and refilled and resealed with homemade alcohol.
'Steer clear and drink beer or duty free. And warn other travelers about the dangers of methanol poisoning while traveling abroad.'