Alcohol killed British tourist in Portugal

An investigation has concluded that excessive drinking claimed the life of yet another British tourist in continental Europe last year. According to a BBC News report,  Mark Drew, a 27 year old British football player died at a resort in Vilmoura Portugal) from drinking a lethally large quantity of alcohol. According to the recently concluded inquest into the death, Dew consumed 10 pints of beer during a single night, as well as several cocktails.

Drew’s fellow football players were with him on this trip to Portugal and they revealed during the hearings into the death that their late friend was never known to consume significant quantities of alcohol. Yet when they went on holiday to Portugal everything seemed to change. The British tourists would spend much of the day taking in the local sights and attractions, but would start drinking as early as 4pm. The real problem was that these young visitors would then continue to go from one bar to another for the next seven hours and then would continue their drinking binge until 2am. One of Drew’s friends testified that the group would “drink solidly without a break,” and their binge included 10 lagers, followed by as many as eight lighter alcoholic drinks. The men continued to drink even after their returned to Britain. Drew fell ill the day after his return to the UK and was hospitalized. He died of pancreatitis several days later.

This incident highlights the increasingly acute problem of young Britons drinking excessively while on European holidays. Only last week, we reported on a Greek mayor who called upon the British government to educate UK citizens about proper etiquette and safe drinking habits while abroad.

Thank you to BBC News for the initial report.