King was blinded after she drank methanol-lace alcohol in Bali in 2011<\/p>\n
Published Mar 15, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Calgary actress Ashley King is trying to prevent the horrible situation that led her to going blind from happening to someone else.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n King, 33, was a 19-year-old backpacker back in 2011 when she was poisoned by a methanol-tainted cocktail at a nightclub (now closed) in Kuta, Bali.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Now King has gathered more than 27,000 signatures on a change.org petition<\/a> since last summer to raise awareness about the potential dangers of drinking abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember (drinking) like a fruity cocktail mixed beverage and they were serving them in reusable water bottles so you wouldn\u2019t spill your drink while you were dancing,\u201d said King, currently rehearsing a new play, Lazy Susan, premiering next week at Calgary\u2019s disability theatre company, Inside Out. \u201cIt had a lid. (I) didn\u2019t really think anything of it.\u201d<\/p>\n That was a Tuesday night.<\/p>\n By Thursday afternoon, after she\u2019d flown to Christchurch in New Zealand via Sydney, Australia on Wednesday, she said she started to feel \u201creally out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n King\u2019s luggage had been lost, so she checked into a hostel in Christchurch and went straight to bed. Upon waking, she said she noticed the light was very dim, even though it was noon.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden, I couldn\u2019t breathe and I was gasping for air,\u201d King said. \u201cI thought maybe I was having an asthma attack or something because I\u2019ve had an inhaler my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n She made her way down to reception and staff took her to a walk-in clinic, but her eyesight was getting worse, so they took her to the hospital, where she went completely blind (she has 2% of her eyesight left now).<\/p>\n Her blood results eventually showed a large amount of methanol in her system.<\/p>\n King said the only treatment was alcohol, which leads to the body no longer breaking down the methanol. Instead, it breaks down the alcohol.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cSo they basically had to get me very, very, very intoxicated in the hospital,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the drunker I got, the more I could breathe and the more I could see.\u201d<\/p>\n The doctor told King her mother was flying to Christchurch as they wheeled her into ICU where they were going to exchange her blood for new blood.<\/p>\n King lucky to alive\u00a0<\/p>\n The next day she could see a little bit but it was what she called \u201cvery static,\u201d and the doctors told her she was lucky to be alive and her optic nerves were likely dying.<\/p>\n After a week, she was an outpatient who came to the hospital for tests daily, and after a month she finally flew home to Calgary.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were treating me like somebody who needed to see a specialist,\u201d said King once back home. \u201cSo when I found my vision was really getting worse, I went into emergency, like someone needs to see me.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Eventually, they said there was nothing they could do and gave her anti-depressants.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing they can do is early intervention and try and get the methanol out of your system as soon as they can, in order to restore your eye sight,\u201d King said. \u201cBut once the damage has already happened it\u2019s pretty irreversible.\u201d<\/p>\n 60 Minutes Australia produced a 2025 report on methanol poisoning of multiple backpackers in Laos, but when King was poisoned she struggled to find more information about others with the same fate.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Here are the countries Canada warns against travel to amid Mideast clashes<\/p>\n![\"Ashley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-12-103246-e1773585572203.png\")
Blind Calgary actress Ashley King started a petition to get more education out about methanol poisoning in countries like Bali. Photo by SUPPLIED \/Jennifer ChipperfieldArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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Ashley King, circa 2011, in Bali (change.org) Photo by change.org<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2263647407-e1772558126611.jpg\")
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