British Backpacker Found Dead In Cambodia Bought Over-The-Counter Medication For Upset Stomach

A young British backpacker and her Canadian travel buddy found dead in a Cambodian guesthouse in 2017 had bought an unfamiliar over-the-counter medication to treat an upset stomach, an inquest in England heard Tuesday.

Natalie Seymour, 22, had messaged her mother back in the U.K. on the day of the incident to say she and her friend, Abbey Gail Amisola, 27, had severe stomach problems and were going out to get help. But a few hours later, the staff at the Monkey Republic guesthouse in Kampot, Southern Cambodia, found them dead in their room.

On Tuesday, Coroner Sullivan investigating Seymour's death gave an open verdict after hearing that she and her friend had brought an unfamiliar over-the-counter medication. The inquest heard that they had chronic stomach sickness and diarrhea soon after arriving at the guesthouse in November 2017.

Seymour's phone was inspected by the Cambodian authorities and found that she was googling her sickness symptoms. She wrote in one search, “Vomiting so much I have chest pains,” while in another she wrote, “My belly is cramping, but I don't feel sick. It's weird - what is going on.” She was also reportedly worried about the color of her vomit which was yellow and dark green.

Seymour had quit her job as an accounts manager and fl on a one-way ticket in the hope of fulfilling her adventurous expedition. She had provided daily updates to her family. The inquest in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, heard how Seymour, from Shefford, had flown from Britain in Nov. 2017 to Cambodia to meet Amisola, who she had met a year before in Bali.

People staying at the guesthouse brought them food and drinks as their conditions declined, but owing to the hostel's inaccessible location there was no hospital nearby.

A local villager took the women in a car to a local doctor, but by the time they had reached the doctor, they became unconscious and brought back to the guesthouse. A few hours later, both were declared dead.

Seymour’s body was brought back to the U.K. and an investigation found no evidence of “foul play”. The first inquest that was opened into Seymour's death in 2018 could not determine the cause of death.

Dr. Rajiv Swamy, who carried out the post-mortem, said he had found evidence of damage to her liver caused by "drug toxicity". He said the condition called “idiopathic hepatotoxic microvesicular steatosis” was the cause of death.

But the Coroner recorded an open verdict that he could not state a specific reason for her death.