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JAM | Jun 28, 2023

British tourist dies after drinking challenge in Jamaica

/ Our Today

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British tourist Timothy Southern. (photo: GoFundMe.com)

A British man died while on vacation with his family in Jamaica after he tried to complete a challenge that involved drinking all 21 cocktails included on the resort bar’s menu.

A report from ITV News says that Timothy Southern, 53, of Staffordshire, was able to drink 12 of the menu’s various cocktails before returning to his hotel room at the Royal Decameron Club Caribbean in St Ann. Citing a pathologist in Kingston, ITV News added that Southern’s cause of death was “acute gastroenteritis due to alcohol consumption.”

An investigation into the man’s death found that he had been drinking brandy and beer in the morning before partaking in the cocktail challenge, which he decided to do after meeting two Canadian women celebrating a birthday, who were trying to complete the challenge before midnight.

“He was on his back choking. I put him in the recovery position and screamed for an ambulance,” one of his family members later told authorities. The family member said Southern “was making a gurgling sound. As soon as he was in the recovery position, he vomited. I was shouting his name with no response.”

Family critical of first responders

The family has since criticised the first responders at the hotel, saying they were not prepared to take care of him, calling the service “disgusting.” Yahoo Entertainment quoted the family member as saying, “when the nurse arrived, I said had an ambulance been called and she said ‘no.’ I thought she would take over. But that was not the case. I noticed he was starting to lose temperature. I checked his pulse and couldn’t find it.”

Continuing, the relative said, “she (nurse) said he had a pulse. I was starting to lose it. I got a full look at his face and I thought he had passed away. I said, don’t just sit there looking at him, start CPR. She only gave him chest compressions. Maybe if she had known what she was doing, maybe he would still be here.”

The family has since started a GoFundMe campaign that reads, “please help bring our Dad home from Jamaica,” which has currently raised over £9,500 out of its goal of £15,000 target.

“We know dad was loved by so many with friends all over the world, the biggest character most would ever come across,” the statement reads on the GoFundMe page.

According to the family, “we’re hoping by doing this we could try to raise as much money as we can to get him home so that we, as a family, get to say our goodbyes.”

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