A former nurse said she feels "lucky to be alive" after deadly carbon monoxide fumes filled in her kitchen.
Julie Macsorley had been cooking a chicken at her home near South Shields when her carbon monoxide (CO) alarm alerted her to the danger. The 59-year-old wasted no time in calling the emergency number and a Northern Gas Networks (NGN) engineer was quickly on scene to cap off the house’s gas supply after detecting potentially life-threatening levels of carbon monoxide build-up.
"I feel lucky to be alive – this could have been a lot, lot worse than it was," Julie said.
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"Looking back, I’d been feeling a bit tired and washed out in the weeks leading up to the incident, but I didn’t really think too much about it. I actually didn’t know what the alarm was when it went off, as it’s just not something you expect to hear.
“You’d think having been a nurse I would have picked up on the early signs, but carbon monoxide isn’t known as the silent killer for nothing.
“I filled in a special CO survey with the NGN engineer afterwards and it turns out I didn’t know anywhere near as much about it as I thought I did. He was fantastic and took the time to explain the signs of CO and how an escape can happen.”
Another gas-safe engineer visited Julie’s home to inspect her appliances and identified her 30-year-old oven as the source of the problem. The oven has now been condemned and Julie has been taking to Twitter since her near miss to warn people of her experience.
She’s persuaded her daughter and a neighbour to have CO alarms fitted and some of her social media followers have also said they plan to purchase an alarm.
“I’ve become a massive advocate for CO alarms now and I think they’re a crucial bit of kit that everyone should have in their home," she said. “Carbon monoxide has no smell or taste so an alarm really is the only way to prevent a small build-up becoming a big problem.”
As well as raising awareness of CO alarms among friends and family, Julie is also urging people in her neighbourhood to get their gas appliances regularly serviced every year.
NGN’s director of customer services, Eileen Brown, said: “Thankfully Julie did nearly everything right – she had a working alarm fitted, rang the emergency line quickly when she became aware of a problem and then made herself safe until help arrived.
“After this experience, she’s now putting in place the missing part of the jigsaw, which is to make sure all gas appliances are serviced regularly by a qualified engineer. I’m delighted the story had a happy ending and that Julie’s become such an advocate for CO safety.”
If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide, call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999. This line is in operation 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
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