Doctors in Australia revealed Wednesday they saved an Italian tourist’s life by drip-feeding him steady doses of vodka over three days. The patient was given three standard drinks an hour over the period while he was in intensive care unit.

The 24-year old unidentified man was brought to Mackay Base Hospital in north Queensland two months ago after a failed suicide attempt. He had swallowed huge quantities of ethylene glycol, a poison commonly found in anti-freeze.

In order to reverse the effect of the poison, doctors decided to give him pharmaceutical-grade alcohol, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). However, when they ran out of alcohol supplies, they ordered in crates of vodka in order to setup this unconventional drip.

AFP quotes Dr Pascal Gelperowicz who looked after the patient as saying, “we quickly used all the available vials of 100 percent alcohol and decided the next best way to get alcohol into the man’s system was by feeding him spirits through a nasal-gastric tube.”

According to BBC News, another doctor, Dr Todd Fraser, said in a statement, “The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit. Fortunately for him he was in a medically induced coma for a good portion of that. By the time he woke up I think his hangover would have well and truly gone.”

The patient made full recovery and was discharged after 20 days.

Source: WayOdd

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