Teen drinks herself to death at own party

Perth teenager Nicole Bicknell died after drinking 95 per cent Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany



THE family of a WA teenager who died after consuming a potent brand of alcohol at her 18th birthday party has called for a complete ban on the sale of high-strength liquor in Australia.

Nicole Bicknell collapsed and passed out after drinking a few shots of Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany, a Polish spirit that has a 95 per cent alcohol content, two weeks ago.

According to Nicole’s grieving family, the Thornlie teen only had a few mixed drinks over the course of the evening when she was offered the spirit by a male friend. A few hours later, she was dead.

While the family still has to wait five weeks for the official cause of death, Nicole’s devastated mother Belinda, heartbroken grandparents Glynis and Kevin McLean and shattered siblings Tracy and Steven told PerthNowthey believe it was the potent drink that killed her.

The Australian Medical Association called for a ban on the sale of Spirytus Rektyfikowany two years ago.

Nicole Bicknell who died on her 18th birthday. Photo: Supplied

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Nicole, who wanted to follow in her father and grandfather’s footsteps by becoming a police officer, rarely drank alcohol.

Her family said she consumed a few shots of the “rectified” (a process to increase concentration) spirit in quick succession, unaware of its dangers, after being spurred on by the friend.

One 500ml bottle of Spirytus Rektyfikowany contains 38 standard drinks – more than double the potentially lethal dose for an average adult.

Ms Bicknell said she was outraged authorities didn’t listen to the AMA’s warnings in 2012.

“It’s like anything, more deaths have to happen before things get done,” she said. “I just feel very angry right now.”

The drink has been described as a “highly concentrated ethanol” which should be used in very small amounts “as a base for mixed drinks and the creation of liqueurs”. It has also been described as being “widely used in households and for medical purposes”.

It was available for about $60 off the shelf at Dan Murphy’s stores but, after a request from Nicole’s family, it has since been removed.

A Woolworths Liquor Group spokeswoman confirmed the drink had been removed from sale from all of its Australian stores.

But it is available from some independent Australian liquor retail websites.

Nicole’s family said they want Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany and any other high-strength liquor banned from sale across the country.

“I cannot see why alcohol so strong is sold in liquor stores,” Mr McLean said. “No one needs to buy alcohol that strong. It should be taken off the shelves so this doesn’t happen to any other family. Make it an offence to sell it and ban it completely.

“That’s the main thing. We just don’t want it to happen to anyone else.

“If they (retailers) have any sort of conscience they would remove it. We want it banned Australia-wide and we would like to see it an offence to sell it.”

Family pay tribute to ‘gentle soul’

NICOLE Bicknell could not wait until she turned 18.

For months, she reminded her close knit family of the exact number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until she legally became an adult.



Counting, or mathematics, was her forte. And so was attention to detail.

According to her family, her obsession with being precise and organised meant she was made for her dream career as a forensics officer with the WA Police.

But tragically this dream will never be realised after the bubbly, bright 18-year-old’s life was cut short two weeks ago by suspected alcohol poisoning.

While devastated by their loss, her family say they feel blessed to have had such a “gentle soul” in their lives.

“If there was one word to sum up Nicole, it’s perfect,” mum Belinda explained.

“She was too good to be true. She was very thoughtful and was always thinking about others.

“She had friends from all races and got along with everyone.”

Almost 300 people attended the Thornlie teen’s funeral on Wednesday, which her mum said was a testament to her popularity.

“She was a gentle soul and there wasn’t a mean bone in her body,” her sister Tracy added.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...us-rektyfikowany/story-fni0xqrc-1227125182028

Why ban the alcohol? There is alcohol stronger than that. Besides, people should be responsible and know what they are drinking. APV should be printed on every alcoholic beverage IMO
But theres no reason to point the blame at the company making the alcohol, these companies should be free to sell their booze in Australia no matter how potent, as long as the ONLY drug in it is alcohol.

Sad story but it is a bit ridiculous to blame the alcohol, it clearly states how strong it is on the bottle. I don't really understand the appeal of a 95% ABV spirit, it can't have much flavour and your standard 40% spirits are strong enough to get anybody fucked up.

I would wager that most people who drink themselves to death manage to do so with weaker strength drinks than this one, it would be incredibly reactionary to ban this due to the unfortunate death of one young girl.

How many shots are they saying is a few? I interpret that to be about three, I don't buy that she only had three shots of this stuff if the alcohol is what actually killed her.

this is retarded, what is wrong with these lawmakers

Such a sad story!
My heart goes out to her parents and family.

I agree that banning the alcohol is unlikely to help.
I also thought it unlikely that someone could die from 3 shots of liquor, even something as strong as 95%.
However, if 500 ml is 38 standard drinks, as the article says, and one shot is 44ml, as google says, then one shot of 95% is roughly 3.5 standard shots.
So 3 shots of 95% = about 10 shots of e.g. tequila. That is substantial!
I wouldn't expect most people to die from that amount, but it is possible (especially given that she may have had 3 mixed drinks before she took the shots, and those drinks may have had multiple shots' worth of alcohol in them).
Some people are sensitive to alcohol, or have weaker livers, and she may have been one. But even someone with average sensitivity (i.e. who would die precisely at the LD50) could potentially die from, say 16 shots' worth of alcohol if they weigh 50 kg, right?

Because of its unusual zero-order pharmacokinetics, the speed at which one ingests the dose of ethanol very much affects the effects. If you don't believe me, try chugging a beer in a few seconds. Then the next day, try sipping a beer over the course of one hour. At T+1h after cracking open the beer both days, note the effects you're feeling. For me, it's almost like two entirely different drugs. People don't realize this, and often think all that matters is the number of drinks you have in one drinking episode. 10-15 drinks over the course of a long night out sure is not healthy, but most healthy adults could probably cope with this every once in a blue moon. 10-15 drinks straight to your dome in a short period of time just might kill you, no matter who you are.

Trying2Iso said:

There is alcohol stronger than that.

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Don't you need to add chemicals in order to keep it stronger than 95%? Ethanol naturally absorbs moisture from the atmosphere.

Yawn ignorant drug use. If you aren't smart enough to read the bottle for the alcohol content or understand what it means; you shouldn't drink.

MyDoorsAreOpen said:

Because of its unusual zero-order pharmacokinetics, the speed at which one ingests the dose of ethanol very much affects the effects. If you don't believe me, try chugging a beer in a few seconds. Then the next day, try sipping a beer over the course of one hour. At T+1h after cracking open the beer both days, note the effects you're feeling. For me, it's almost like two entirely different drugs. People don't realize this, and often think all that matters is the number of drinks you have in one drinking episode. 10-15 drinks over the course of a long night out sure is not healthy, but most healthy adults could probably cope with this every once in a blue moon. 10-15 drinks straight to your dome in a short period of time just might kill you, no matter who you are.

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Yes of course, I knew that speed of ingestion changes the affects, but lost that fact in my earlier post. You are so right (as usual!) MDAO. 10 drinks pounded in a few minutes is really intense. I know this because, at age 16, I pounded 14 shots of tequila in less than 30 seconds. I didn't die, obviously, but I definitely felt poisoned for the next 12 hours or so.

I have to agree that it is stupid to blame the alcohol. It's up to the individual to know what they are consuming and the risks associated period. I understand her parents are upset but taking it off the shelves of Australia is going to do zero to get their daughter back and is pointless.

Back when I used to drink, which - now that I'm thinking about it - is quite some time, there were a few occasions where I managed to get my hands on the odd bottle of Eastern European Rum - man that stuff was potent. I think I blacked out every time after about 4 or 5 shots - not that I'm laughing at myself; it was very reckless and I'm lucky that I had friends basically babysitting my ass to make sure I didn't choke on my own vomit while in a drunken stupor, but I digress.

Re. this tragic story - my sincere condolences to the parents. None of them should have to bury their children - it must be unimaginably painful, and nothing I or anyone else says can help ease the pain.

Ironically, it is during a time such as this when a human being is most vulnerable with respect to resorting to the consumption of alcohol and/or controlled substances for purposes defined as recreational because a doctor didn't prescribe any of the drugs consumed. Regardless, I think the term "self-medication" would be more appropriate, or perhaps "a temporary escape from pure pain and misery," but don't tell the drug warriors that because they are too primitive to comprehend so many syllables. That is, until they suffer a similar fate and end up in a very similar predicament.

And that is how you get a stubborn drug warrior to understand why so many people turn to drugs for comfort. I wish there was another way, but either it doesn't exist, or I haven't found it yet, and boy have I been looking, but enough of that.

Rest in Peace

Too young. Way too young

Such an unfortunate story. People don't realize alcohol can kill without a tolerance. Most see Heroin and some other drugs as only drug one can od on, but alcohol poisoning is a reality. So sad.

Time for the parents to get together a campaign to ban alcohol

Isn't Everclear like 100% alcohol? Don't know what good a ban would do on this, but a very sad story...seems odd it was just from a few shots though...

The product isn't the problem, it's this pervasive problem in Australian 'culture' (or lack thereof) of utterly wreckless abuse of alcohol. Young folks simply don't realize how toxic it is.

I think Acanthus is on to something. Pervasive reckless drinking has become a normality for some of these communities. The acceptance of alcohol as a go to drug to use in large amounts for fun is leading to some of these deaths in teens. More education of the parents and schools part informing students about the dangers of alcohol in moderate or large amounts.

slimvictor said:

Yes of course, I knew that speed of ingestion changes the affects, but lost that fact in my earlier post. You are so right (as usual!) MDAO. 10 drinks pounded in a few minutes is really intense. I know this because, at age 16, I pounded 14 shots of tequila in less than 30 seconds. I didn't die, obviously, but I definitely felt poisoned for the next 12 hours or so.

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I had a remarkably similar experience, slim.

Moonshine and the like have been around since hard liquor was invented, or thereabouts. When one person dies, a young female, there's a big uproar. I feel for the family but it's not right to just ban the stuff. Saying that the cookie jar is not to be touched has always made me dip my hand in it.

There is everclear in Canada which is that strong but its label is plastered with warnings.
Honestly I feel bad for her, many kids where I'm from do shots of that shit but we aren't exactly inexperienced drinkers.
This is an unfortunate accident; a couple shots of 190 proof alcohol shouldn't kill anyone unless she died from asphyxiation.
She likely had a strong sensitivity to alcohol; sounds like a freak accident to me.

Ho-Chi-Minh said:

I I feel for the family but it's not right to just ban the stuff. Saying that the cookie jar is not to be touched has always made me dip my hand in it.

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This sums it up nicely, I think.

Sounds like either asphyxiation or they're understating the number of drinks she'd had previously to dramatize the whole thing. That said, drinking rectified spirits straight is both stupid and disgusting - but banning them isn't going to help, and I highly doubt this would be in the media if it didn't happen to a white teenage girl.