Drunkest woman blows .401 (No, she's not dead, but she should be)

Herald-Sun ^ | 8.16.03 | RYAN HEFFERNAN and MARK MOOR

[mhking]

A LANDSCAPE architect is one of the drunkest women ever caught driving in Australia after registering a blood alcohol concentration of .401 -- more than eight times the legal limit.

Medical experts believe the amount of alcohol found in Samantha Leigh O'Shea's blood could have killed a less experienced drinker.

Her reading was one of the highest reported in Australia.

A South Australian man recorded a blood-alcohol level of 0.497 when he was breath-tested in that state's southeast in 1998.

A Melbourne grandfather, 53, blew .423 in September 1999.

And a Tasmanian man, 30, blew .404 after falling into the arms of police who had tailed him home because of erratic driving in 1991.

Most drinkers become comatose with a level of .35 and death occurs at about .5, medical experts say.

O'Shea, 37, was seen driving on the wrong side of the road at night without lights on Queensland's Gold Coast on February 27 this year.

Police prosecutor Ian Cook told the Southport Magistrates' Court a passing motorist saw O'Shea step from her Volkswagen Beetle before collapsing to the ground.

The man took her in his own car to the Nerang police station where she later recorded the reading.

O'Shea's barrister, Frank Lippett, told the court his client had drunk four 100ml bottles of vanilla essence, which averaged 52 per cent total alcohol volume per bottle, before driving.

Mr Lippett said O'Shea had become an alcoholic in the early 1990s when her landscape architecture business hit a bad patch.

Before sentencing O'Shea to 200 hours of community service, three years probation and five years without a licence, acting magistrate Trevor Arnold said to her: "I'm surprised you're still here."

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[woofie]

Medical experts believe the amount of alcohol found in Samantha Leigh O'Shea's blood could have killed a less experienced drinker.

I love experts

[Scenic Sounds]

We're dealing with a pro here. ;-)

[absinthe]

I had a .429 in the ER last night.
Seen over .600 (awake and talking to me)!

[RJCogburn]

The withdrawal is gonna be nasty.

[Moose4]

Hmm, eight times the legal limit...so you get a DUI Down Under at .05%, not .08% or .10% as here in the States. Interesting.

And as for this lady, she's lucky. If she blew .401, I have no idea how she was even conscious enough to *find* the car, much less actually drive it.

}:-)4

[F16Fighter]

"Seen over .600 (awake and talking to me)!"

At an English pub I presume??

[Scenic Sounds]

The withdrawal is gonna be nasty.

Oh, you bet. I suspect this gal learned a long time ago how to avoid a hangover - just keep drinking. LOL.

[absinthe]

I had a .429 in the ER last night. I've seen over .600 in a person awake and talking to me.

Errr...I had a patient with a .429 in the ER last night. I don't tend to work in the ER intoxicated.

[VoiceOfBruck]

I had a .429 in the ER last night.

I've heard ER can be a high-pressure job. I hope you didn't drive home.

[prairiebreeze]

Even with her high tolerance from the alcoholism it's amazing she wasn't unconscious with that BA level.

Prairie

[Spok]

I knew a guy like that...his liver has been fueling the Mt. Diablo nuclear reactor for 6 years...

[prairiebreeze]

a less experienced drinker.

This statement is a ridiculous comparison to the progressive, debilitating disease of alcoholism.

<Prairie

[Loyalist]

Medical experts believe the amount of alcohol found in Samantha Leigh O'Shea's blood could have killed a less experienced drinker.

Yet again demonstrating that experience will prevail over youth.

[2111USMC]

Been there. Done that.

[SandyEgo]

well, here's another "just damn"...hahhahah.

[smoothsailing]

That Fosters does come in big cans.

[Paleo Conservative]

I had a .429 in the ER last night. Seen over .600 (awake and talking to me)!

How do people get that drunk? Most people would start vomiting or pass out first.

[Bogey78O]

"Drunkest woman blows .401 "

That seems so perverted if taken out of context.