Mum Poisoned By Carbon Monoxide

5 September 2018, 05:00

A mum from Newquay is warning people to make sure they’ve got a carbon monoxide detector after she was poisoned at home.

Jade Ulrich and her family suffered carbon monoxide poisoning for 12 months after moving into a new house that had a faulty gas appliance. 

The symptoms are similar to those that many women experience during pregnancy, including dizziness, tiredness, headaches, nausea and generally feeling unwell.

It can also be mistaken for the symptoms of a cold or the flu. 

The mum of two told Heart “I had extreme morning sickness, headaches, tiredness and after several visits to the doctor and lots of anti sickness medication, it still didn't subside. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that my family came to visit and they noticed that there was a burning smell at the house.

“It's just not something that you expect. You don't expect to be poisoned while you're at home.”

It’s as cases of CO poisoning in the South West have gone up 134%.

Around 50 people die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning and thousands more are treated in hospital. 

Carbon monoxide is produced when fuel doesn’t burn properly, usually from badly fitted or poorly maintained appliances. Common sources of CO are gas and oil boilers, gas hobs and fires, log burners, open fires and BBQ’s.

Alarms are the only way to detect CO poisoning as you can’t see it, smell it or taste it. With two-thirds of homes unprotected by an alarm, an estimated 40 million people are at risk. 

Jade added: “I would strongly advise everybody to go and buy a carbon monoxide alarm, whether you rent, or own your own house. 

“We take them on holiday with us now, we take them camping, we take them everywhere because now we realise the severity of not doing it.”