THIRST TRAP

American Tourist Gets Violently Ill After Making Foolish Mistake

A mountain rescue team had to be called to assess the situation.

An American man required urgent medical care after drinking water from a river along the Scottish West Highland Way trail, leaving him vomiting throughout the night. A mountain rescue team was called by Police Scotland at around 12:43 pm on Tuesday to assist the man, who the team said in a Facebook post had been “vomiting since yesterday evening and was unable to walk.” He was assessed before being transported back to the point where he was picked up. Lomond Mountain Rescue Team noted that this was the second incident in the past week in which contaminated water may have led to illness. The BBC reported that a German man had also been taken to a hospital after drinking water from what was believed to be a stream near Conic Hill. “That area, where the West Highland Way passes through, is agricultural land where livestock can be found,” Lomond Mountain Rescue team leader David Dodson told the BBC. “Please bear in mind that filtering alone may not guarantee safety,” the rescue team wrote in a Facebook statement, advising visitors and locals to drink water from known sources or bottled water.