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just give me a mo......

Carbon manoxide poisoning. This time 7 years ago,i nearly lost myself and my three children,to this silent killer....well i,m going to tell you all... the story even thow it still upset's me a great deal.I awoke one january morning to go to the loo..i heard my son making very weard noises..my gut instict told something was very wrong,when i entered his room, i smelt very strong fumes,straight away i thought the boiler..i tried desperatly to awake my son..he was so unresponsive.. i then shouted for my other two daughters as i wanted to get him out of his bedroom..my other two daughters came to me.we managed to drag him out of the room,he seemed to be fitting i turned him on his side and tried to reach my fingers in his mouth..his teeth were clenched...my next thing to do was turn my boiler off.. and run around the house and fling open all the windows..whilst i was doing this i'd already told my daughter to phone the emergency servises..and then i told one of my daughters to go and get my purse and handbag..you might think this is silly but i knew this was an emergency situation..and i'd been down this road many times before..as my daughter used to be chronic asthmatic and there was,nt ever much time to think apart from taking the only thing i may need...as my daughter came back to me..she then collasped..the only thing i could think of was to get my family out of the house.i grabed my daughter and dragged her down the staires..i flung the door open and lay her outside to breath the freshair..i then went back upstaires to drag my son out..but by this time i felt i was going to collapse myself, i told my other daughter to get out of the house..i tried so hard to lift him..but i felt so weak myself..i ran back down the staires and out threw the front door and screamed at the top of my voice for help..it seemed like it was for ever that knowbody heard my calls....i then shouted to my sister who had died exactly one year to that very day to help me..at that very moment an ambulance had turned up...i told them to go to my son..and get him out...if you can imagen i was very histerical by this time, and i think the parimedic just thought i was over reacting..as they thought that my son was having a convoltion...but i knew it was to do with the fumes of the boiler..so i kept screaming please all of you get out of the house by this time my daughter had come round..but my son was still unresponsive they got him into the ambulance..and put him straight on oxigen...i remember thinking..god he's going to die, and if not he's going to have brain damage i stood over him and kept praying please god don't let him die...he then started to moan and then opened his big brown eyes....and said..mum what's happened...can't tell you how relieved i was to here that i then did collapse....in floods of tears to think how lucky we all were to be able to tell this story today...i did'nt realise it was carbon manoxide poisoning untill we all had blood tests done..we all then had to go to liverpool to have decompretion treatment..not a very nice experience but so gratefull.. that they are able to do this..as it saved us from getting very nasty side effects.....and also gratefull, that my sister did come to me on that very sad morning..i truly believe that she gave me the strenth to cope with it all....they told me that i had 22% carbon manoxide in my blood stream..and they don't know how i managed to do what i did.....but i knew i had to save my childrens lives that morning..even if it ment loosing my own. Just wanted to share this with you all...to make you all aware of how inportant it is to get your boilers regularly serviced,as it may cost you your lifes. gwyn xxxxxxxx

What an awful experience that must have been - . so glad it had a happy ending and you all got out safely. Thanks for the reminder to have things checked out - it's easy to get lax about such things. Love Kate

Can I also add to that the memory of the family who died recently in Greece, of carbon monoxide poisoning, again through poorly maintained boilers. Many people block the air vents in their living rooms due to a draught...but that draught could save your life! Don't block any ventilation built in, it is so dangerous. If you have a gas boiler, get your house fitted with carbon monoxide detectors, and make sure the batteries are working, the early warning from them could also save your life. My friends boiler leaked carbon monoxide. If her air ven hadn't fallen off the wall, and the newspaper she used to block it up didn't keep falling out, if her husband had mended the vent when he said he would, if there hadn't been air coming through, they would all have died. Please, don't take the risk, because sure as eggs is eggs, you won't know you have a leak until its too late. Well done Gwyn. It was probably the adrenalin rush that kept you going. So glad your family are ok now. You dont need telling how lucky you are.

How brave of you to tell us all you are one lady we have a monoxide alarm thank god june xx

Thanks Teresa and kate. And i was also going to mention about carbon manoxide Detectors..i have one myself,and well worth every penny. I also had a great delight in, smashing my boiler up afterwards can't tell you how every blow with a sledge hammer,bought out so many emotions in me. gwyn xxx

hello my sunshine friend. thank you for sharing this important story, i hope everyone takes notice, and buys a detector. the world is a better place, with you and your lovely family in it. bryan.

Sunshine , my love, thankyou so much for sharing this, it has made t hairs on the back of neck stand on end, I have just read it aloud to all my family, Lucky for me my dad was a plumber, You were amazing, Caz xxxx

Thankyou for sharing this & bringing it to our attention. So pleased you were all ok. May I also remind everyone to get a reputable heating engineer in, they must be Corgi registered. Friends doing it on the cheap simply won't do. Also if you are in rented accomodation your landlord has a responsability to have all your appliances serviced every year. If this is not done then please see that it is. He must supply you with a landlords report every year. Detectors are brill. Also smoke alarms are just as important. Don't take out the batteries just because they keep going off. Hilary.

So very glad you are all well now and are able to give this warning. Hugs to you and your family Gwyn Mau ((xx))

Can I also add, with portable gas heaters you do need ventilation. My SIL nearly gassed her family on the fumes from one of these. Leave a door open or a window slightly. I know it is difficult when you are using them to heat a room but they must have ventilation. Hilary.

Back again...just had a few tears to contend with there. Thank you bryan for a lovely statement. And thank you caz....it was'nt brave of me...it's just called motherly love. And thank you hillary...but i just wanted to add..we did have a corgy registered fitter to ok the boiler...but i'm afraid becouse we did'nt have anything in writing we could'nt press charges. gwyn xxx

Sunshine that's really upset me to know you had to go through this. I'm sat here crying. I'm so so thankful you were all ok. I have seen your pic and your girls and you are all beautiful. thankgod it ended as it did. your a lovely person-so that's what saved you. My friend always. catherine xx

Ho Budgie. you is making me cry even more now,and no i don't mind anybody adding anything like this to my thread,if it helps, to at least make one person think...about the dangers of these things then it's all worth it. gwyn xx

Hi Gwyn, A very scarey experience...terrifying, and life changing. I do have a carbon monoxide alarm in my house and at work, as I too have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning - nasty! Thanks for that, I hope everyone takes notice...it is so important. Tina x

oh sunshine we a right pair of daft sausages-that really upset me- but I can see why you posted it. I'm so glad you and your family are ok-does make you think about families that are not. At first I thought you were just telling us something that you saw in the paper-but then the penny dropped. then I cried. love you loads my friend. catherine xx

Hi Gwyn. So sorry you had to go through this. Sorry also that you did'nt have anything in writing. My husband was a heating eng. Corgi Reg. etc. So many cowboys out there now. Please everyone get a report off your engineer. If he is legal he will give you this. It is so important. Hilary.

Catherine,my my lovely lovely friend. I hav'nt put this up to bring tears to your eyes,or anyone elses for that matter....I just wanted to bring it so much to people attention of how inportant it is to get your boiler seviced regularly,and if that makes one person think..then this thread is so worth it. gwyn xxxx

And thank-you Hillary for stressing so much to get something in writting,it's so very inportant. Thanks to everyone for all your reply's. And yes, i do feel so very sad that,people have lost there lives to this very silent killer. And yes, i did deal with it all while it was happening...but believe me..i suffered so badly afterwards i could'nt sleep for ages..kept thinking i could smell fumes...even when i smell fumes now..i have flash backs of that morning. gwynxx

What a harrowing story, thank god everyone escaped. Does anyone know there are Carbon Monoxide detecters available for around £10.00, they just plug in to a socket and work like a smoke alarm... i bought one about 6yrs ago and when my daughter got her first home i wouldn't let her stay overnight until the detector had been plugged in for 24hrs, just to make sure it was safe...please invest in one or ask family friends to get yuou one as a gift....it may well save a life....moe