Whiskey saves woman
who drank antifreeze

As the world rings in the new year, many by toasting each other with alcoholic beverages, the life of a Scottish woman has been saved by drinking shots of whiskey after she mistakenly ingested antifreeze.

Glennis Middleton, 51, was just following doctor’s orders when she downed the alcohol cure every hour for 24 hours.

“You will have to forgive me with my recollection of events, because things were a little hazy,” Middleton told The Scotsman.

The councilwoman had been helping a relative decorate her home three days before Christmas when she got thirsty. But she wasn’t wearing her glasses when she took a drink from a bottle lying on a table.

After three gulps, Middleton realized something wasn’t right. She picked up her glasses to read the label on the bottle, only to discover she had downed antifreeze.

“I thought it was particularly strongly flavored water. It didn’t taste bitter,” she said.

Her daughter phoned the family doctor, who instructed they go to the hospital, where they were told the only cure was to drink alcohol – and plenty of it.

“The medical staff at Ninewells [Hospital] were concerned about me because they previously had a patient who died 22 hours after taking it,” Middleton said. “I was thinking that I was all right and that I had more important things to do, but the doctor was saying to me, ‘you could die here, woman, you must stay.'”

She was given the choice of gin, vodka and whiskey, before being ordered to drink two cupfuls immediately.

“There was no way I could drink gin or vodka straight,” she said, “so [I] decided to go for whiskey. I’m not a whiskey drinker, but I just held my nose and down it went. It was served in a plastic cup with quite a significant amount in each.”

Throughout the night, nurses provided her with a measure of alcohol every hour while monitoring the level of antifreeze in her blood. By 4 p.m. the following day, Middleton’s condition had improved sufficiently for the dosage to be cut down to a normal shot of whiskey, which has been called the “water of life.”

Dr. Shobhan Thakore of Ninewells warns consuming antifreeze is potentially fatal.

“Even small amounts of the liquid can kill you,” he said. “Someone who takes only 100 milliliters of antifreeze could die.”

Even if it doesn’t kill someone, drinking antifreeze can cause kidney failure and seizures, with the methanol content causing blindness.

Thakore explained alcohol works as an antidote because it forces the liver to process the booze, rather than toxins found in antifreeze.

He says anyone who drinks antifreeze should get to a hospital immediately, and bring the bottle with them.