Alcohol poisoning? Have a drink

Nguyen Van Nhat, 48, was taken to Quang Tri General Hospital in Vietnam after a booze binge that nearly killed him. He was overdosing on methanol, an ingredient found in home brews.

The clever doctors saved his life by giving him several cans of beer, containing ethanol.

The liver prioritises breaking down ethanol over methanol so giving him a few beers bought them some time to perform dialysis and flush out the alcohol before the methanol was processed.

Nhat was given a can of beer every hour while recovering. After 15 tins he had fully recovered.