Michael Denton's brother Greg Denton, of Auckland, yesterday said the Denton family, including their mother in Dunedin, were obviously still devastated about their 29-year-old son and brother's death in September, but the toxicology results from an autopsy had "in some way helped our family understand what happened to Mike".
Greg Denton (26) said a report yesterday in the The West Australian newspaper about his brother's death, was accurate.
That report said findings by the coroner at Bali's Sanglah Hospital, which said Mr Denton was killed by methanol poisoning, were released recently.
The promising rugby player was in Bali on a rugby tour with his Perth-based Nedlands club.
The brew he drank - called arak, which is distilled in Bali - is thought to have killed at least 30 people in the past two years.
Arak is produced from fermented rice, palm sap and other plants, but if it contains methanol - a by-product of incorrect distillation - it can also cause brain damage, blindness and death because it acts as a strong poison.
In 2009, 25 people - including several tourists - died in Bali after drinking a batch of arak containing methanol.
A 25-year-old Australian nurse is still battling brain damage and kidney failure after drinking a cocktail containing arak corrupted with methanol on the final night of her holiday on September 20, just days before Mr Denton died.
Greg Denton said his family now wanted to warn people travelling to Bali about those drinks.
"We know we cannot get Mike back but desperately want to warn people travelling to Bali of the very real danger these drinks pose so that nobody has to go through what we are still going through.
"The message is that this could happen to absolutely anyone and people need to be aware of the risks."
Mr Denton, who played first five-eighth had been due to play in an international rugby tournament on September 24.
In Dunedin, he played for the Dunedin Rugby Club before his move to Perth in 2006.
The West Australian reported Mr Denton was drinking at a hotel at Kuta during the afternoon of September 23, but friends said he was not drinking heavily because he had to get up early the next morning.
Other friends also drank the same drink.
Mr Denton was found unconscious in his room less than an hour after being helped there after complaining of feeling ill.
Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
"These guys were over there to defend their title in a pretty serious, internationally sanctioned rugby tournament," Greg Denton said.
"They were starting the next day at 7am so were not having a big night. They were having a couple of drinks at the hotel."
The family was still devastated as the death came after their father died 18 months ago.
A month after Mr Denton died, a warning appeared on the Foreign Ministry's safe travel website warning that arak was often mixed with fruit juice. It said if arak was going to be drunk to ensure it came in a sealed bottle from a commercial distillery.
- Additional reporting The New Zealand Herald
