gas maskLast week Dillon and Christy Dwyer were vacationing at their cabin in Acord Lakes when in the middle of the night Christy awoke to something strange.  She said that she woke up incredibly thirsty, weak, and nauseous. After some time of tending to her Dillon too began to fall ill. The sick couple decided to leave the house for some fresh air, this most likely saved their lives. A few feet from the home Christy collapsed. Dillon recounted not having strength enough to help her. His muscles had frozen up and he too blacked out.  They don’t know how long they were out, but after they came to they got in their car and were able to drive to the next cabin only reaching as far as the driveway before blacking out again.

At the hospital it was discovered that the two had an almost lethal saturation of carbon monoxide gas in their blood streams. Exposure to 100 parts per million of the gas or more are dangerous and lead to a loss of judgement and movement after about two hours. The Center for Disease Control states that “unintentional CO exposure accounts for an estimated 15,000 emergency department visits and 500 unintentional deaths in the United States each year”.

This particular poisoning has been attributed to a propane refrigerator that was leaking and had not been inspected in the proper amount of time.

We at Christensen & Hymas are grateful that the couple is unharmed and that they will have no lasting effects from the accident. In cases where poisonings do not lead to death, the lack of oxygen to the brain can leave lasting damages. If you or someone you love has been involved in a carbon monoxide poisoning due to someone elses negligence, call the personal injury experts at Christensen & Hymas at (801)560-0800.

Original article from Fox13

Picture courtesy of Konstantin Stepanov