Mum-to-be escaped the ‘silent killer’

CLAIRE Stanley and the boiler from which carbon monoxide was escaping.

Faulty flue was leaking poison gas into house

A PREGNANT woman says she is lucky to be alive after narrowly escaping carbon monoxide poisoning.

Claire Stanley (21) was unaware her boiler was leaking lethal gas into her rented home until she began to feel weary and drowsy. She is now warning others to be aware of the effects of the poisoning — called the “silent killer” — in a bid to save lives.
Having moved into the property in Clarksfield only four weeks ago, Claire put the symptoms down to being five-months pregnant.

She said: “I started to feel drowsy and I had a really bad headache that suddenly came on.

“I thought it was just because I was pregnant, I had no idea it was the gas.

“I had been having problems with the boiler, it kept cutting out whenever I used the heating or the hot water.”

But after her grandmother suggested the possibility of poisoning, she wasted no time and went to hospital.

After going to A&E at the Royal Oldham Hospital, Claire was kept in overnight for tests.

She added: “When I got to the hospital they told me that me and my baby were extremely lucky to be alive.

“They did all sorts of tests and finally came back and told me that we were both OK. I was so relieved but so upset by the whole thing. I’ve had such a lucky escape.”

After calling out an engineer Claire discovered the boiler had come away from the flue, allowing the gas to escape.

Kash Ghafoor, of Genesis Estates letting agency, said: “We have over 100 properties and have never experienced anything like this. We can’t apologise enough.

“The property had been refurbished and a builder did the work, which we believed was to a correct standard.

“We will be investigating this, and wish to assure everyone that safety is our priority.”

n The Chronicle recently reported on an emotional reunion that highlighted the tragedy carbon monoxide can cause. Former policeman Adrian Raynor met with Shoheb Ahmed who was three-months old when Adrian rescued him from a gas-filled house in Glodwick, which took the life of Shoheb’s mother Tazeen Akhtar, 22 years ago.