British tourist blinded after drinking spiked alcohol on Greek island



A British girl has been blinded and is fighting kidney failure after she was allegedly poisoned on a night out on the Greek island of Zakynthos a week ago.

Hannah Powell, 21, had been out with friends and drinking cocktails in the resort of Laganas when her drink was spiked with highly toxic methanol.

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According to the Sunday People, she was rushed to hospital the next morning when she woke to excruciating stomach pain and could not see.

Doctors treated her for kidney failure but she has still not regained her sight.

Hannah's distraught parents have flown to Greece from their home near Middlesbrough and told the newspaper that their daughter is on a dialysis machine.

Her mother Christine, 51, told the Sunday People: "Her kidneys have completely gone. She's on dialysis every day."

She added: "The police came to talk to us and have done a report. They think it could be methanol that is responsible but the investigation is ongoing."

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Dr Dimitris Goumenos, head of the Kidney Clinic at the University Hospital, Patra, said: "When she came in Hannah was on the verge of being blind. The problem was much more serious than just a plain methanol poisoning.

"Her parents wanted to take her home to Britain this weekend, but I would not be happy for her to travel on a plane until much later in the week, depending on her condition."

Zakynthos has had a problem with spiked drinks, known as bombes, being served in bars and clubs. Bombes are made with cheap, often homemade alcohol that can lead to methanol poisoning, resulting in partial blindness.


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