Carbon monoxide couple lucky to be alive

An elderly Navan couple owe their lives to a carbon monoxide alarm which alerted them last week to high levels of the lethal gas in their home at Kilcarn Court.
John Carey said he and his wife, Mary, are lucky to be alive and stressed the importance of having a carbon monoxide alarm in the house as well as using fully competent plumbers to install heating systems.
“Thank God for the alarm. Only for it, we wouldn’t be here,” he said.
The couple were both asleep in their home in the early hours of Monday morning, 18th November, when the voice alarm was activitated.
“I woke up to hear the alarm saying ‘get out, get out, get out’. I got up and felt sick and dizzy. My wife was also feeling sick. She has disabilities, so I had to get her put of bed,” Mr Carey said.
He said their house has not been adapted to cater for his wife’s disabilities, and he found it difficult to get her outside, so he opened the doors and windows and his wife waited at the door until his daughter came and helped.
“We have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms on both floors and it was very lucky we had. We would never have woken up only for them,” he said.
The couple stayed with their daughter for a few days until they were given the all-clear that the house was free of fumes.
A plumber they called to the house said the levels of carbon monoxide were very high that night. However, it cleared over a couple of days and the couple moved back into their home in the middle of last week.
Now the couple have to wait to have their new stove and flue checked, as this appears to be the cause of the problem.