Tragedy struck the Royal Caribbean Decameron Club in St Ann’s, Jamaica, as a 53-year-old British man died in a bizarre cocktail drinking challenge while vacationing with his family.

Staffordshire resident, Timothy Southern took part in a daunting task involving the consumption of every cocktail on a bar’s 21-drink menu. According to reports, Southern was able to consume 12 different cocktails before retreating to his hotel room where he later lost his life.

The cause of death, as determined by a Kingston pathologist, was “acute gastroenteritis due to alcohol consumption,” thereby reinforcing Coroner Emma Serrano’s ruling that Southern’s death was indeed alcohol-related.

The initial investigation disclosed that Southern had been drinking brandy and beer throughout the morning before joining two Canadian women in a 21-cocktail challenge as part of their birthday celebration.

Despite the presence of family members and their frantic attempts to help Southern when he began showing signs of extreme discomfort, they could not save him. Witnesses have reported on the family’s desperate efforts to assist Southern in his critical condition.

Following the incident, the family criticized the hotel’s emergency crew, accusing them of not being adequately prepared for such emergencies. A relative described how a nurse who arrived on the scene said that an ambulance had not been called yet. The family’s hopes of the nurse taking charge of the situation were dashed as they witnessed Southern’s health decline rapidly. Expressing disappointment over the nurse’s apparent lack of life-saving training, the family member argued that if proper techniques had been used, the outcome might have been different. The family described the treatment received as “disgusting.”