An Australian traveller falls ill to suspected methanol poisoning on 'What Really Happens in Bali. Courtesy Channel Seven

An Australian traveller falls ill to suspected methanol poisoning on 'What Really Happens in Bali. Courtesy Channel Seven

CHEZNYE Emmons was on a dream holiday with her boyfriend Joe Cook in Indonesia when tragedy struck.

The 23-year-old British backpacker started feeling unwell after drinking from a bottle marked as gin that she’d bought from a local shop in Bukit Lawang, near Sumatra.

It had been poisoned with methanol.

Within days, she was unable to see and suffered convulsions. She had to travel for hours through the jungle before reaching hospital where she was placed in an induced coma.

Her parents Pamela and Brenton made the decision to turn off her life support.

Since that heartbreaking day two years ago, they have been desperately campaigning to raise awareness of the dangers of methanol poisoning in the region.

Along with their Facebook campaign Chez — Save a Life, they have raised over $20,000 to print and distribute educational posters around the country.

However, Cheznye’s sister Measha told the Mirror they had suffered some setbacks when dealing with local health authorities.

“We hoped to get something positive out of Chez’s death — to use her life as an example of what you stand to lose if you don’t take care when travelling abroad,” she said.

“The Foreign Office have been working with us in Indonesia but we’ve had a major struggle in this country.

“Since the campaign started we have been trying to get posters put up in GP surgeries. But we seem to have hit a brick wall. We have 20,000 posters in boxes waiting to be delivered.”

But they have had success in getting a detailed warning posted on the National Health Service.

This is the article published on the NHS Choices page. I'd like to Thank Steven Shukor for writing such a good article.... Posted by CHEZ - Save A Life Campaign on Wednesday, July 22, 2015

And they’re not the only ones trying to alert unsuspecting tourists of the dangers.

The family of Perth teenager Liam Davies, who also died after consuming a methanol-laced drink at a bar in Lombok in 2013, has set up the Facebook page Lifesaving Initiatives About Methanol — LIAM.

On it they detailed numerous cases of people being killed or injured by unknowingly ingesting the poison in Indonesia.

WARNING - 3 CONFIRMED METHANOL POISONINGS BALI this week alone.Schoolies and xmas holiday makers take care. Drink BEER,... Posted by Lifesaving Initiatives About Methanol - LIAM on Thursday, December 4, 2014

BE ALERT AND AWARE

Travel safety expert at Travel Insurance Direct Phil Sylvester warns there’s a particular problem in Bali where the “tourist invasion” has opened up the market for backyard distillers. Here are his tips to avoid methanol poisoning:

1. Don’t drink arrack.

2. Don’t drink spirits (including cocktails). While this is hard it’s the only way to be certain no local substitutes have been used. If you are to drink spirits buy the whole bottle of a brand you know and open it yourself … or drink beer.

3. If you start to feeling any symptoms get yourself to hospital as soon as possible.

4. Know and understand the signs of methanol poisoning for yourself and any friends, including:

• Difficulty breathing

• Blurred vision

• Agitation

• Dizziness

• Stomach pain.

5. Be aware of methanol drink spiking across the globe, it is not unique to Bali, but also pretty common in Eastern Europe.

Incidents involving Australian tourists in Indonesia:

• Tess Mettam, from Perth, became ill and went blind for two days after drinking two cocktails at a Kuta Bar in 2013.

• Perth teenager Liam Davies, 19, died after drinking a methanol-laced cocktail on the Island of Lombok on New Year’s Day, 2013.

• Two 18-year-old Australians, a male and a female, were blinded after drinking cocktails during separate schoolies trips to Bali in November and December 2012

• Jamie Johnston, 25 of Sydney, suffered brain damage and kidney failure from a methanol laced jug of arrack from the Happy Cafe on Lombok in September 2011.

For more advice on travelling to Indonesia visit the government’s SmarTraveller website.