Receptionist blinded by spiked drinks in Greece faces guide dog wait

Receptionist, 22, who was blinded by drinking spiked cocktails on holiday in Greece faces three-year wait for guide dog

  • Hannah Powell, 22, was blinded after her drink was spiked in August 2016
  • The Brit was on holiday in Laganas, Greece, where the cocktails were laced
  • Her mother gave her a new kidney so she could come off dialysis
  • Miss Powell has been told she will have to wait for three years for a guide dog 

A 22-year-old receptionist who was blinded by drinking spiked cocktails on holiday in Greece faces a three-year wait for a guide dog.

Hannah Powell woke up blind in August 2016 after her vodka and orange cocktails were laced with methanol, during a party holiday to Zakynthos.

The toxic drinks left her with multiple health issues, including kidney failure and blindness.

A shortage in guide dogs across the country means she has been added to an 800 person waiting list.


Hannah Powell, 22, appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain in May, she faces a three year wait for a guide dog after being added to an 800 person waiting list

Miss Powell before she suffered the life-changing consequences of drinking spiked cocktails in August 2016


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She told the Mirror: ‘It’s just one more setback I’ve got to deal with, but I’m not alone.

‘Blind people across the country are having to cope without guide dogs… I’ve been warned I might have to wait three years.’

The GP’s receptionist previously told of how she discovered she was blind after waking up one morning in Greece.

She had been out for a bar crawl the night before. 

She asked her friends to open the curtains of the room, but to her horror they said the sun was pouring through the window.

Miss Powell had to have a kidney transplant from her mother, who fortunately was a match, to prevent her from having dialysis for the rest of her life.

She described her mother, Christine, 53, as her ‘hero.’

Miss Powell woke up in the Hotel Trinity in Zante and asked her friends to open the curtains, only to be told they were wide open

Miss Powell, from Middlesborough, is back working two days a week.

Drinks adulterated with cheap spirit, often home-made, to cut costs have been a consistent problem in the southern Mediterranean.

Spiked drinks, or bombes, are served in some bars and clubs in Athens and resorts known for partying – such as those on Zakynthos – have had problems in the past.   

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