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27th June 2023
10:37am BST
A British holidaymaker reportedly died after trying to drink all 21 cocktails on the pool bar menu in Jamaica.
Timothy Southern, from Staffordshire, had worked his way through a dozen of the drinks before retiring to his room at the Royal Decameron Club Caribbean, in Saint Ann, where he later passed away, StokeonTrentLive reported.
The 53-year-old was on holiday with his sister, children and other relatives when the incident unfolded in May 2022.
An inquest into Timothy's death heard that he had already been drinking brandy and beer in the morning when he met two Canadian women trying to complete the cocktail challenge before midnight to celebrate one of their birthdays.
According to StokeonTrentLive, Timothy's family hit out at the inquest, suggesting more could have been done to save him.
They rushed to his room when informed that he was unwell and found him on his back choking.
"I put him in the recovery position and screamed for an ambulance," an unnamed family member is quoted as saying by the publication.
"He was making a gurgling sound. As soon as he was in the recovery position he vomited. I was shouting his name with no response."
The family member said that when a nurse arrived, they asked if an ambulance had been called, and it hadn't.
"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.
"She 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'."
The family member said the nurse only gave Timothy compressions and "maybe if she had known what she was doing maybe he would still be here. The service and treatment he received was disgusting."
A pathologist in Kingston, Jamaica, gave the cause of death as "acute gastroenteritis due to alcohol consumption", but the inquest was told toxicology reports could take three years to come back from Jamaica.
Staffordshire area coroner Emma Serrano ruled the death was alcohol-related.
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