Woman wakes up completely blind after being 'poisoned' on night out
A woman woke up blind after a night out when she inadvertently consumed a dangerous substance.
Radharani Domingos had been out to celebrate a friend's birthday at a bar in São Paulo, Brazil.
While out, she had a cocktail called a caipirinha, which is made of cachaça, sugar, limes, and ice and is the national drink of Brazil.
All seemed well at first but on 19 September, after the night out at the Ministrão bar which has now closed, Radharani, 43, began to feel unwell.
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Alarmingly, she then reported that she was having problems with her vision.
She went to a doctor before going to hospital, where medics began to assess her.
Radharani's sister, Lalita Domingos, said that at first the medics assessing her thought she may have had a stroke.
That was until 10 days after she went to the bar, when they realised that she had methanol in her system.
Speaking to Fantástico via G1, she said: "For a few moments I thought I was going to see my walls but I'm just groping.
"The revolt at this moment is to try to understand why they are tampering with the drink.
"They poisoned me and they are poisoning other people. It's disgusting that you order caipirinha and take methanol."
One of the symptoms of methanol poisoning is that it can affect vision, and Radharani was left blinded for 15 horrible days.
Eventually she was discharged from hospital, and described what life has been like since.
She said: "A little relief from leaving the hospital environment after 15 days and a little panic.
"I'm very active at home, I'm very active in life and then you stop, totally depend. You can't describe it."
What can methanol poisoning do to you?
Methanol is a chemical cousin of ethanol, the type of alcohol you would find in beer, wines, and spirits.
But while ethanol is bad for you even if you drink in moderation, methanol has far more acute and potentially life threatening symptoms if consumed.
Dr Christopher Morris, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, told the BBC: "Formate, which is the main toxin produced, acts in a similar way to cyanide and stops energy production in cells, and the brain seems to be very vulnerable to this.
"This leads to certain parts of the brain being damaged. The eyes are also directly affected and this can cause blindness which is found in many people exposed to high levels of methanol."
How to avoid methanol poisoning
The biggest thing is that if you suspect something is wrong with your drink, don't drink it.
You can also avoid drinking distilled products, particularly clear ones, as these are sometimes switched out or mixed with methanol to save money.
If you think you have been poisoned with methanol you should seek medical help immediately.
Ironically, one of the ways to actually treat methanol poisoning is to give someone alcoholic drinks.
Methanol becomes toxic as the body metabolises it, and giving someone ethanol prevents this from happening as the body metabolises the other alcohol.
Dr Knut Erik Hovda, from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said: "You can die from a very small proportion of methanol and you can survive from a quite substantial one, if you get to help.
"The most important antidote is regular alcohol."
Kit Roberts