Brit, 23, blinded for life after accepting free drink at hostel on holiday

A young Brit was tragically blinded for life after he accepted a free drink at a hostel while on holiday in Laos.

Calum Macdonald was stepping off a bus with his friends on the border between Laos and Vietnam when he realised he couldn't read the travel forms right before his eyes.

He told BBC Breakfast that just the day before he'd been staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng where his group had been offered free shots of vodka and whiskey, which they were mixing with soft drinks.

The 23-year-old described 'having this sort of kaleidoscopic, blinding light in my eyes and to the point at which I couldn't see anything', he and his friends thought it might be some sensitivity after food poisoning.

However, things took a turn for the worse when Calum and his friends got to their hotel room in Vietnam and he asked why they were all 'sitting in the dark', only to be told the lights were on.

23-year-old Calum Macdonald was blinded after having a free drink in a hostel while on holiday (BBC Breakfast)

You may recall that six people died and a number of others were affected by a mass alcohol poisoning last year in Vang Vieng, and the Brit was one of those impacted as he went blind as a result.

He is now learning to use a cane and is hoping he can apply for a guide dog soon.

The six individuals killed in the poisoning were identified as 28-year-old British national Simone White, Australian friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, 57-year-old American tourist James Louis Hutson and Danish friends Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21.

Calum told BBC Breakfast that he knew the Danish women, having met them on a night out, and said even though he lost his sight he was 'very lucky' as 'a lot of people did have it worse'.

He's now working with the families of people who have died from methanol poisoning while travelling in South East Asia, saying: "I have a bit of a responsibility to try and prevent the same thing from happening to other people."

Calum was one of those affected by a mass poisoning event in Vang Vieng, Laos, which resulted in six deaths (BBC Breakfast)

Methanol is an industrial chemical which can be found in products such as paint thinners and solvents, and while it looks and smells similar to the ethanol you can find in alcoholic drinks it is far more dangerous.

Just 25ml of methanol can be lethal to the human body, and symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, changes to vision and abdominal pain.

It can take up to 24 hours after consuming methanol for symptoms to show themselves, as it becomes dangerous to the human body after you start to metabolise it.

There have been several instances where people travelling through South East Asia have died after drinking spirits that turned out to have methanol in them.