EXCLUSIVE
One of the victims of a mass cocktail poisoning at a five-star Fiji resort has sensationally lifted the lid on her harrowing ordeal – as she accuses the local government of failing to hand over her toxicology results.
American Jill Juarez was one of six tourists who was rushed to hospital in a critical condition on December 14 after drinking tainted pina coladas at Warwick Resort, on the country’s Coral Coast.
All ill guests – which included four Australians – have since been released from hospital, with the Fijian government falling short of explaining what caused the mystery illness – but they have ruled the drinks did not contain methanol or any illicit substances.
Now, Ms Juarez has spoken out online after becoming frustrated with the response of local authorities who she says have failed to ‘give her answers’.
Ms Juarez declared she and the four Australian women only had one drink from the hotel’s adult pool bar before falling gravely ill.
‘I was in the Sigatoka hospital for 24 hours and then rushed by ambulance to the Lautoka hospital for another 24 hour stay,’ she said.
‘I received IV after IV of NaCl, morphine and other drugs while I was in and out of consciousness, unable to walk even to the toilet on my own, experiencing alternating states of extreme all-over tingling or numbness (I couldn’t even hold a water bottle to my mouth to drink), extreme nystagmus (eye spasms) which caused inability to focus or see clearly, confusion, nausea, massive nonstop heart palpitations (tachycardia) and borderline seizing.
‘A mother almost died as she was intubated in front of her also poisoned teenage daughter and the rest of us, and then put into a medically induced coma.’
Jill Juarez (pictured) fell critically ill after drinking pina coladas at a five-star resort in Fiji
Six people, four of which Aussies, were hospitalised after drinking cocktails by the pool at Warwick Fiji resort (pictured) in the south of Fiji’s main island on Saturday December 14
Ms Juarez said she started experiencing symptoms about 4pm but was not interviewed by police until more than nine hours later.
She said she has still not received her personal blood and urine toxicology results from either of the hospitals she attended, and despite repeatedly calling police, she is yet to be contacted back.
She added that it seemed odd that officials so quickly ruled out that the drinks did not contain methanol or drugs, but they have not been able to shed light on what actually occurred.
‘It’s been 11 days. I have contacted the police officer twice who interviewed me and have been ignored. There is no way it should take that long,’ she said.
‘It seems that once the results of the toxicology of the ‘selected samples of pina colada mix and/or alcohol’ from the Warwick were released showing no methanol, people were quick to move on.
‘Those results were released to the public four days after this happened, and those samples were even sent all the way to Australia for testing. Why are we still waiting for our personal results which I’m told are in a lab in Fiji?’
Ms Juarez said she is worried about the long-term impacts of her ordeal, with exposure to toxins potentially causing neurological issues, organ damage and blindness.
She said ‘not one person’ out of the authorities who were initially interested in talking to her – including police and resort staff – have reached out to see how she is going or offer help.
Five of the victims have since been discharged, including a Sydney mother and daughter who returned home on Monday night (pictured: tourists could be seen enjoying beverages at the pool bar on Monday)
One of the poolside bars at the Warwick resort, which has been in operation for 40 years
She added that she made repeated efforts to try and talk to management at the Warwick to discuss possible reimbursement for the multiple nights of accommodation they lost – only to be fobbed off to a security guard who ‘interrogated’ her for an hour and ‘insinuate ‘ that she drank too much.
Ms Juarez said the whole experience has left her ‘beyond angry, scared, frustrated, and sad’.
‘WHO is helping ME? Where is the compassion and empathy for ME and the other women? And for my boyfriend who had to endure the horrible ordeal as he watched us all suffer, and cry and yell out for help and had a doctor tell him ”some of these women may not make it”?’ she said.
‘And how would you feel if your daughter or sister was on an island in the middle of nowhere on what should have been a relaxing, beautiful vacation and you got a call at 3am telling you she may die?????
‘Ask my elderly parents and my sister, they had to experience that and the anxiety they now suffer is real.’
Ms Juarez also hit back at online speculation that those who were hospitalised may have had food poisoning or been consuming alcohol at another venue prior – saying that she ‘did not at all drink kava, eat seafood, or drink elsewhere’.
She said the way the case has been handled by the media, police and hospitals has been ‘unacceptable’ and said that she has consulted with a lawyer as she tries to gain access to her lab results.
‘I am not saying unequivocally that someone at the Warwick ‘purposely’ poisoned our drinks…..I promise you, I am not implying that. But SOMETHING happened,’ she said.
An Australian woman and her daughter are pictured being boarded onto an air ambulance last week after being hospitalised in Fiji
The woman was helped up and down the aircraft’s steps at either end of her journey on Wednesday
‘I have consulted an attorney and will prosecute this to the fullest extent, if need be, starting with getting a subpoena for my personal lab results. That is the LEAST I am owed.
‘I also have an appointment with my physician in America for a full lab work-up including finger nail and hair follicle testing which will show ANY toxins that were in my system for the past 90 days.
‘The truth will come out one way or another.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Warwick Resort for comment.
The allegations come after the last two Australians – a 49-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter – were airlifted home on Thursday night in a secret medevac operation.
An entourage of cars transported the 49-year-old mother to the chartered flight at Nadi International Airport on Wednesday afternoon following a four day stint in intensive care at Lautoka Hospital.
An entourage of cars transported the 49-year-old mother to the chartered flight at Nadi International Airport on Wednesday afternoon following a four day stint in intensive care at Lautoka Hospital.
Shortly after the air ambulance left Fiji, Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka declared the six Warwick guests had not been affected by methanol poisoning, as initially speculated.
Tanya Sandoe, 56, and her 19-year-old daughter Georgia Sandoe-Simpson are pictured arriving back home on December 16 after also been hospitalised in the mass poisoning
‘I can confirm that no illicit substances or methanol were found in the ingredients or liquor samples,’ Mr Gavoka said.
‘All of the affected tourists and the locals have now been discharged from medical care, fully recovered. This is a significant relief.
‘No tourist wants to end their holiday in illness and we are sorry that their holiday ended on such a note.’
The mum and daughter arrived in Australia two days after Sydney teen Georgia Sandoe-Simpson, 19, and her mother Tanya Sandoe, were released from hospital and flown home on Monday.
While no alternative reason for the tourists’ sickness was revealed, the deputy PM did indirectly share a conspiracy theory that the bad press from the incident had been fuelled by a competing tourist destination.
‘I would like to assure this incident has been localised to one hotel. There has not been any reason to link this incident to any others,’ Mr Gavoka told a press conference.
‘In the meantime, I would like to tell everyone it is safe to come to Fiji. We have to also find out who had been giving out that negative press on Fiji as a destination.
‘Are they competitors for our tourism?’
At the time, Fiji police pledged that they will continue to investigate the cause of the mass poisoning, however, they are yet to make the findings public.
‘The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation considers the recent incident as a learning experience,’ Mr Gavoka said.
‘We will collaborate further with our marketing arm, Tourism Fiji, Fiji Hotels and Tourism Association, Fiji Police Force to ensure that Fiji remains a safe destination for tourists.’
‘The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation considers the recent incident as a learning experience,’ Mr Gavoka said.
‘We will collaborate further with our marketing arm, Tourism Fiji, Fiji Hotels and Tourism Association, Fiji Police Force to ensure that Fiji remains a safe destination for tourists.’
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed that a friend of one of the victims claimed she was asked by the Warwick staff to sign an indemnity form and reimbursed $160.
Meanwhile, Warwick Resort management insists the accommodation is safe for guests.
Bottles of Bounty Rum, the main ingredient in the Pina Coladas served have been sent away for testing.
‘From our batch, it is not expired,’ human resources manager Nitin Goundar said.
‘We will go through the CCTV footage.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk