Mother-Daughter Discharged, Others Still in Hospital
“It’s very difficult to take a call at 11 o’clock at night and your daughter and granddaughter are away — and your daughter says that they have been poisoned and they’re in hospital,” Mr Sandoe said.
Tuesday 17 December 2024 | 11:29
Two Australian women hospitalised after consuming cocktails at a five-star hotel in Fiji are stable and set to fly home.
Four Australian women, aged between 18 and 56, were among seven people sent to hospital after drinking at a bar at the Warwick Fiji along Coral Coast on Saturday.
David Sandoe, from Sydney, said his daughter Tanya and granddaughter Georgia had been at the Warwick Resort and consumed the cocktails in question.
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He said the duo fell ill and spent Saturday evening and Sunday in hospital after Georgia had a seizure, but the duo had now been discharged.
He said they were accompanied by Australian consular staff to the airport in Fiji and were due to arrive into Sydney Airport yesterday evening.
He told the ABC the pair were now doing “very well” given the circumstances.
“It’s very difficult to take a call at 11 o’clock at night and your daughter and granddaughter are away — and your daughter says that they have been poisoned and they’re in hospital,” Mr Sandoe said.
“It is your worst matter,” he said.
One of the victims discharged from Aspen Medical, Lautoka on December 16, 2024. Photo: Waisea Nasokia
“They were on a mother and daughter ideal break – we as a family love Fiji and they were holidaying there for a week due to return yesterday.”
Mr Sandoe said his relatives had “banded together” with another affected mother and daughter pair from Australia who had consumed a “similar cocktail” who, the ABC understands, are still in hospital.
Authorities from Fiji’s Ministry of Health said the patients had suffered nausea, vomiting and “neurological symptoms”.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon, Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Viliame Gavoka said the situation was “very serious” but that the two remaining in hospital were “stable”.
He said as they were still waiting on a toxicology report he could not rule out methanol poisoning, but said it was something “I don’t believe is possible in Fiji”.
Source: ABC News
