The heartbroken families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles are calling on the public to help cover mounting costs to bring their daughters’ bodies home after their deaths from methanol poisoning in Laos.
The 19-year-olds from Beaumaris, in Melbourne’s Bayside, are among six foreign tourists who died after a mass poisoning in the south-east Asian nation.
Their families want to raise awareness about methanol poisoning and have started a GoFundMe in their daughters’ memory.
The page has raised more than $195,000 as of Monday afternoon.
“Tragically, their journey, along with visitors from different countries, was cut short when they fell victim to methanol poisoning – a hidden danger that claimed their lives just one day apart,” the fundraising page stated.
“This campaign, organised by the families of Bianca and Holly, aims to raise awareness about the dangers of methanol poisoning – a silent but deadly risk that often claims lives without warning.
“We want to honour the memory of Bianca, Holly, and others impacted by methanol poisoning by turning this tragedy into a mission for change.”
The description detailed the fundraiser’s three main objectives were to relieve financial burdens for the families, support existing initiatives and fund awareness campaigns.
Among these burdens was to assist the families in covering out-of-pocket expenses, including those incurred while bringing the friends’ remains back to Australia.
The teenagers had been on holiday in Laos when they became ill along with a dozen other tourists in the popular town of Vang Vieng.
They failed to check out at the Nana Backpacker Hostel on 13 November after going to the Jaidee Bar.
Jones and Bowles were evacuated to Thailand and died in separate Bangkok hospitals after their parents raced to be by their bedsides.
Jones’s father said his daughter was on the trip of a lifetime and wanted to explore the world to meet new friends.
“Her life had just begun,” Mark Jones told reporters in Bangkok on Saturday. “She was a young woman that had a lust for life.
“We’ll forever miss our beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain.”
Thai authorities have confirmed Jones died of “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”.
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On behalf of both Australian families, Jones urged the Laos government to investigate the incident to the “fullest extent” to avoid it happening again.
“We can’t have the passing of our daughter … not lead to change to protect others,” he said.
Meanwhile, friends of the pair have adorned the Melbourne bayside suburb where the pair lived with tributes in their memory as loved ones call for funds to bring their remains back to Australia.
Local federal MP Zoe Daniel said people across the bayside community have chosen a particular public tribute in support for the teenagers’ families.
“Those who live in (Beaumaris) and surrounds would know there are blue and yellow ribbons on trees and fence posts across the community… just to acknowledge the passing of Holly and Bianca and as a show of love to them and their families,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“It’s just really important to know just how many people are connected to these girls and these families particularly young people…it’s really an incredibly difficult period for all of those kids.”
Their families want to raise awareness about methanol poisoning and have started a GoFundMe in their daughters’ memory.
Former home affairs minister Clare O’Neil said plans were in place to assist the teenagers’ loved ones as they prepared to return to Australia.
“DFAT is working with the two families here and I know we will be doing everything we can as a government to support them,” she told ABC radio.
“Both in the grieving that they need to do here and in the work they’re trying to do to get some of the problems they see that have occurred overseas addressed.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was working closely with local authorities.
