Brit Left Paralyzed After Drink Was Spiked In Thailand Bar Is Home At Last

[george]

Brain-injury victim is home at last

The 26-year-old was left paralysed and unable to speak after his drink was spiked in a bar in Thailand in 2005.

But after years of painstaking rehabilitation, he has been discharged from full-time care.

The former student has now moved into a specially-adapted bungalow in South Shields and has high hopes for the future.

His recovery from a life-shattering brain injury has been slow and steady, but his patience has finally paid off.

He is regaining his strength and independence, and has lost none of the daredevil spirit that led him to an ill-fated backpacking trip in 2005.

After being in a coma for three months, he was eventually flown home to start the long process of rehabilitation.

His speech gradually returned and in 2009, he took his first steps, albeit with the help of a walking frame.

He has now been discharged from Chase Park Rehabilitation Centre in Whickham, Gateshead, and moved into his own home in Moor Lane East, Harton, South Shields.

The former music degree student said: “I was pretty anxious at the start, but I do feel I have adapted much quicker than I thought I would.”

Paul remains determined to walk unaided and has regained a lot of movement in his legs. It takes just two people to assist him now, with one helping the right hip and the other the right foot.

Mum Carol, 59, a social worker, said: “Nobody will say for certain he will walk again, but his left leg’s now moving normally, his balance is much better and he’s got more pelvic and trunk movement.

“The main problem is the overactive muscles in his right leg, which prevent him from easily bending his knee. That is what Paul and his physios are working on.

“It is getting better every time they do it. With a brain injury, it is constant practice. There is no magic solution.”

But Paul’s ambitions don’t stop at him keeping his feet on the ground – he wants to tackle a climbing wall and even go sky-diving.

He’s already been paragliding on a family holiday to Cyprus and hopes to go jet-skiing in Spain next month.

Mrs Belk said: “We’re just opening the door to new experiences for him.

“This is a real turning point for Paul, and he needs goals and ambitions and things to strive for, because the other thing that can happen now is he feels ‘right, I am here and that is it’.”

He is supported at home by two assistants from care provider European Lifestyles, funded by the local authority through the direct payments scheme.

He still attends Chase Park to use the pool, but receives 14 hours’ physiotherapy a week at home.

His future therapy needs are due to be assessed shortly by South Tyneside Primary Care Trust.

Mrs Belk, who’s married to accountant David, 56, and also has a daughter, Sara, 24, said: “As he’s still making progress, it is something we think is absolutely vital. We are not expecting it at the level of Chase Park, but we do believe he needs regular, specialist therapy.”

The next stage in Paul’s recovery is a return to education or employment.

Mrs Belk said: “We’re just trying to balance it so we are not doing everything at once.”

-- Shieldsgazette.com 2011-08-21

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/health/brain_injury_victim_is_home_at_last_1_3698239

[Ulysses G.]

All of this suffering so that some lazy sc*mbag can steal his money rather than working for a living.

[EyesWideOpen]

dam_n that is harsh.......I thought in a proper drugging you simply fall asleep, all your money is taken, and you wake up the next day with a massive headache. Always a bit scary to me the prospect of being over dosed. I have been drugged twice here in Thailand, and once in the Philippines. Thankfully because I weigh 100 kilos they underestimated the dose so I was not knocked out, and left the bar immediately . Now I never leave my drink if I go to the toilet, and in the Philippines I always insist they open the beer in front of me.....

[chiang mai]

If you dig into the history of this you'll likely see that it's pure speculation as to what happened to him, whether his drink was spiked or not seems to be a mystery - it all just seems to be yet another of those unexplained holiday trips that ended in disaster and without a solid explanation as to why. As for the article, it seems to be yet another case of sensational reporting on a quiet news day.

[DP25]

If you dig into the history of this you'll likely see that it's pure speculation as to what happened to him, whether his drink was spiked or not seems to be a mystery - it all just seems to be yet another of those unexplained holiday trips that ended in disaster and without a solid explanation as to why. As for the article, it seems to be yet another case of sensational reporting on a quiet news day.

Most claims of spiked drinks turn out to be false when someone actually does tests for it, and the person was actually just drunk. Quite possible for a drunk person to have an accident that can cause paralysis.

[Spoonman]

what was the drink spiked with ?

[paulbrun]

I have had my drink spiked, but luckily noticed in time to bring most of it back up. I felt like sh** for the next 12 hours though, and stopped drinking in those sorts of establishments..!

[wolf5370]

I had a drink spiked in Turkey - on a family all inclusive holiday (at a beach bar). I know it was spiked for two reasons - it was only my second drink that night (first at that bar - and I only took a few sips before I went blank) and because of the reaction I had to it. I have an allurgy to certain base drugs that are used for making downers (and uppers for that) - instead of it sending me to sleep it had a somewhat opposite reaction (when I was a kid cold medicine killed me - literally - luckily I was in a hospital at the time and other than total renal shutdown which took a while to recover from, I was brought back - now the reaction doesn't quite kill me, its more like taking PSP or something - superman without qualms or any common sense whatsoever - no memory either). Luckily in that instance my father was there and I was carted of back to my room (although I did nearly get arrested on the way when three times I run off - once to the all inclusive dining area when apparantly I tucked into the flowers at the tables stating loudly it was the only edible stuff in the place, once to chase some guy around his bedroom after he came out to complain about me picking a fight with a lamp post, and third when security caught me after punching a lamppost out and winning - taking out the external lights for most of the resort!).

I never leave a drink alone - in the case above it must have been the bar man as I was still holding the drink and took it directly from him at the bar itself. Cops didn't care - other than to moan about drunken tourists! I drink beer from the bottle as glasses can be drugged before the drink is added and also its easy to put a finger in the bottle and take it to the toilet etc with you.

[aussiebebe]

If you dig into the history of this you'll likely see that it's pure speculation as to what happened to him, whether his drink was spiked or not seems to be a mystery - it all just seems to be yet another of those unexplained holiday trips that ended in disaster and without a solid explanation as to why. As for the article, it seems to be yet another case of sensational reporting on a quiet news day.

Most claims of spiked drinks turn out to be false when someone actually does tests for it, and the person was actually just drunk. Quite possible for a drunk person to have an accident that can cause paralysis.

That's quite true, most people who claimed to have had their drink spiked were just drunk, there is good evidence from police data worldwide to support that.

For me, this story highlighted how amazing health care is in the UK; this young man is lucky to live in a society where he can chose to travel the world and return to such a well-supported environment which picks up the pieces with care workers and incapacity benefits. Stark contrast to Thailand.

[Atmos]

a couple of earlier news items here from 2007

Spiked drink man's fight back to health

12 November 2007

A STUDENT left brain damaged after his drink was spiked in a Thailand bar is making remarkable progress.

Paul Belk, from South Shields, fell into a three-month coma and nearly died during the trip.

He spent months in intensive care and was left paralysed and unable to speak.

Two years on, the 22-year-old, although still wheelchair bound, is making an excellent recovery and continues to be treated in hospital.

Now he is championing a new pilot project helping North East families of brain injured children.

read more

this one gives more detail of what happened on Koh Tao

A Holiday In Paradise Turns To Hell

. . . .

Exactly what happened that night has never been established. Paul cannot remember anything from the whole day. But, from talking to the doctors and Paul's Irish friends, David suspects the two Thai men put drugs in Paul's drink in the hope of robbing him. A gold bracelet and a watch he had been wearing were missing. David said: "We're just really grateful to the Irish lads who looked after Paul that night. "These Thai men had been wanting to take him away, presumably to rob him. "Also, if the Irish lads hadn't taken Paul to a clinic straight away, he probably wouldn't be alive today. "It was all reported to the police but there are only three policemen on the island so I don't think they were too perturbed about it. "When you go out there and you speak to the taxi drivers etc, they tell you this happens all the time but it's hushed up because of the tourist trade. There's a warning on the Foreign Office website."

read more

Edited August 21, 2011 by Atmos

[tombkk]

Does anybody have a link to the background story?

While I'm glad he is recovering, it would be interesting to read what he is recovering from.

[rotary]

I am sure one of my 21 large beers or 16 double Jack Daniels N Coke was spiked the other night! I am just not sure which drink was spiked

I am sure some of these cases are real but I am not sure all that are reported are real.

[craigt3365]

One post has been removed. Please show some respect. This is about Thailand, not the USA.

[Nisa]

Interesting article but very odd it doesn't many anything about the actual incident including what drug was slipped in his drink or by whom or why or if there is actually any proof this is what caused his injuries. I mean this sounds like somebody slipped him something because they wanted to kill him. Doesn't even mention if somebody was arrested let alone a police report being made..

[otissp]

This drink-spiking thing happens even in Japan, believe it or not. There are bars in the Roppongi area operated by the yakuza that do this. Google roppongi yakuza drugged and see.

It happened to me once. I went in and didn't have very much to drink, but I wound up being virtually unconscious. I was with a relative of mine who also didnt have much to drink and quickly became delirious.

I never become as delirious and out of my mind on alcohol as I became in that bar after just a couple of drinks, and the same thing happened to everyone else I was with.

I paid my bill with a credit card. I didn't get a slip since I was so delirious, and they modified the amount to add an extra zero and charged me the equivalent of about $2,000 rather than $200 which was the correct amount.

I went to the local police in Japan to complain, they didnt seem to care. Maybe they're being paid off.

It's not an uncommon story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/18/us-embassy-tokyo-warning

[KunMatt]

I got spiked in China. Went to a nice looking nightclub with my gf at the time, ordered drinks at the bar and they said they would bring them to a booth, didn't think anything was out of the ordinary. They brought me my first beer of the night (in an opened bottle), the girl tried one mouthful of the beer to try farang beer, I drank the rest. Next thing she says she feels funny and I take her to the toilets, while I'm waiting outside the toilets for her it hits me and I practically collapse against the wall and I realise what's happened. She comes out the toilets pretty out of it and I'm like "we need to get the <deleted> out of here right now". As we're walking down the street I cannot feel my arms or legs, but somehow I think I am walking normally, and to be honest it actually felt pretty good and trippy!!. We get home she passes out and I just sit there monged out all night. Thing is there was more police presence and security in that club than any other place I'd been to in China, that should have been a warning sign I guess!

Lesson learned; never leave your drinks unattended anywhere but that's virtually impossible when a waitress brings you an opened bottle most of the time and there's a good chance I've been spiked in other places and just thought I was really drunk.

Edited August 22, 2011 by metisdead
Profanity removed.

[pepi2005]

I doubt that there were any Thais responsible for this - so it's just natural that he and his family are on their own, without any excuse, not to speak of any compensation.

As it was recently revealed, there is also no one responsible for the multiple tourist deaths that happened in a hotel in Chiang Mai!

Whatever they are doing, in so many aspects this is still a 3rd world country!

[Samuian]

it's a old story and certainly not a "urban legend", anyone recalls that stunt in Patpong, some years ago with an english couple, she was fine but he - brain damage... walking dead...

all the best to your recovery Paul!

Edited August 22, 2011 by Samuian

[Puccini]

Interesting article but very odd it doesn't many anything about the actual incident including what drug was slipped in his drink or by whom or why or if there is actually any proof this is what caused his injuries. I mean this sounds like somebody slipped him something because they wanted to kill him. Doesn't even mention if somebody was arrested let alone a police report being made..

See linked article in this post:

""It was all reported to the police..."

[harrycallahan]

As we're walking down the street I cannot feel my arms or legs, but somehow I think I am walking normally, and to be honest it actually felt pretty good and trippy!!. We get home she passes out and I just sit there monged out all night.

I've never had it before but it sounds like you got Special K'ed

[PepeLePew]

Interesting article but very odd it doesn't many anything about the actual incident including what drug was slipped in his drink or by whom or why or if there is actually any proof this is what caused his injuries. I mean this sounds like somebody slipped him something because they wanted to kill him. Doesn't even mention if somebody was arrested let alone a police report being made..

There are further details available to those who read the whole thread.

[Master Chief]

I have good friend from Hong Kong whom was also druged at a bar in bangkok while on holiday here in Thailand.

He was taken to hospital after falling unconciuos and was in a coma for 10 days, he has the same symtoms as a stroke, but medical report says no stroke evidence found!

His whole life is destroyed, only left with despair and sorrow, for no reason at all!

Edited August 22, 2011 by Master Chief

[AngelofDeath]

The key lesson: don't drink or don't go to bar or if you want to drink, make sure no one can spike your drink.

I'll go with the first 2.

[Daffy D]

Be careful when out drinking. seems to be the general advice.

Good advice but just how is one supposed to be careful?

Don't use a glass, they can put the drug in there first. Drink only from a bottle and have them open the bottle in front of you. Sounds fine but they can pop the top and put it back on shake the bottle a bit so it gives that shzz! sound as its opened in front of you.

Sounds like the only way to stay safe is not to drink at all or bring your own from the 7-11 neither of which will make for an enjoyable evening out at the local bar.

[swerver]

Be careful when out drinking. seems to be the general advice.

Good advice but just how is one supposed to be careful?

Don't use a glass, they can put the drug in there first. Drink only from a bottle and have them open the bottle in front of you. Sounds fine but they can pop the top and put it back on shake the bottle a bit so it gives that shzz! sound as its opened in front of you.

Sounds like the only way to stay safe is not to drink at all or bring your own from the 7-11 neither of which will make for an enjoyable evening out at the local bar.

Happens to Thais as well as farangs

Nothing new in my archive 20-year ago (1992) and others in between then and now

The easy pick-up who left her victim brain-dead The woman you think is an easy pick-up might just be the most dangerous person you ever meet.\i]Thammanum Panyarattanawong[/i] found out the hard way when he was 27 years old.

After being drugged by an unknown woman and falling unconscious three years ago, he now is 31 years old and has never regained consciousness.

When he was drugged, the dosage was too strong and restricted the supply of oxygen to his brain.

Now he lies on a canvas bed in a one-story house in Soi Polo 2, Witthayu Road (better know to foreigners as Wireless Road), unable to do anything for himself.

When he went out to drink he had about B.6,000 - B.7,000 cash in his pocket, he had wanted to buy a new motorcycle. But the money had disappeared by the time he arrived back home from the cafe.

His friend says there had been a woman sitting with them at the cafe in Saphan Kwai and that he was unconscious at the time. But the friend did not wanted to become an eyewitness. (Typical Thai behavior, running away from responsibility, the same as they do in vehicle accidents).[/font]

The victim’s aunt has related the episode in the hope that men will be more careful. Reality in Thailand at this time does not bear it out that men are becoming more careful, because everyone thinks it will not happen to him, it happens only to other men.

Edited August 22, 2011 by metisdead
Font: Use forum default font when posting.

[mattpatt]

I had my drink spiked here in Thailand about 18 years ago. I had one beer, of which I only drunk about a third and was out for the count about an hour later. Luckily I'd already got home and crashed out in my bed. Felt like death the following morning and spent three hours throwing up.

I then got spiked again about 8 months ago. I woke up at 6am in the middle of nowhere missing my shirt, shoes and wallet. I know who the "spiker" was.....it was that naughty dek serve at a bar in Pattaya Third road. She'd been spiking my soda with whiskey all night.......Oh well......until next time.

[KunMatt]

The key lesson: don't drink or don't go to bar or if you want to drink, make sure no one can spike your drink.

I'll go with the first 2.

Excellent advice. Very deep and well thought out. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

Similarly, if you don't want to die in a car accident never get into a car. If you never want to drown just don't go swimming. If you never want to be mugged just never leave your house.

Life is so easy to master under your way of thinking.

[Nisa]

Thanks for the links but it seems as though there is no proof what=so-ever this person's injuries were the result of his drink being spiked. There isn't even a mention of what drug could have done this let alone their finding any poison in his system. Certainly it may have happened but it just seems a bit odd to use a poison that is likely to kill somebody simply to rob them when so many non-lethal drugs are incredibly cheap and available at the local pharmacy. To risk murder charges to steal a few hundred bahts in a plot like this makes little sense especially with all the witnesses in a bar.

Yes, bad things happen all over and this "may" be true but to state as fact that this is what happened to cause this poor kids condition doesn't seem right.

Exactly what happened that night has never been established. Paul cannot remember anything from the whole day. But, from talking to the doctors and Paul's Irish friends, David suspects the two Thai men put drugs in Paul's drink in the hope of robbing him.

[Travelman868]

Be careful when out drinking. seems to be the general advice.

Good advice but just how is one supposed to be careful?

Don't use a glass, they can put the drug in there first. Drink only from a bottle and have them open the bottle in front of you. Sounds fine but they can pop the top and put it back on shake the bottle a bit so it gives that shzz! sound as its opened in front of you.

Sounds like the only way to stay safe is not to drink at all or bring your own from the 7-11 neither of which will make for an enjoyable evening out at the local bar.

Any bar that I've used everyone wants to drink from my bottle. So I figure it should be OK

[huck]

If you dig into the history of this you'll likely see that it's pure speculation as to what happened to him, whether his drink was spiked or not seems to be a mystery - it all just seems to be yet another of those unexplained holiday trips that ended in disaster and without a solid explanation as to why. As for the article, it seems to be yet another case of sensational reporting on a quiet news day.

Thailand has too many storry of tourists being effected by the louzy system here. Sure you can get robbed in Amsterdam too.

But then there are tourists dieing in hotel tourists dieing from poisoned food. tourists getting killed etc... There are just too

many storry of misfortune for tourists and the Thai government wants to make Thailand family friendly rather than a sex destination. So they will need to get justice here quickly. Only with a serious justice system will things change. That mean

routing out corruption and its not going to happen under this government. Basically Thailand is third world country that is

not any longer third world economically but hasn t made the transition yet in the field of justice and society. Yet it has many

ambitions it wished to appoint their own candidate to the IMF. I guess the Thais are not really aware of who they really are

and where their society really stands in the world and how things should change to make it better. I think fighting corruption

would be a good place to start, but they aren t there yet.