Carbon monoxide leads to scariest moment in P.E.I. man's life
A man from Stratford, P.E.I., says he and his pregnant wife almost died after carbon monoxide filled their home Friday night.
When Steve Collette came home that night, his wife, Pamela, said she felt sick.
"She was complaining she didn't feel that well," he said. "Her heart rate was high and she was light-headed. And then I started feeling the same way."
It didn't take long for Collette to identify the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.
"I just kind of jolted up and said, 'We gotta get out of here now!'"
They called the fire department, and firefighters later told Collette they detected lethal levels of the gas in the home.
"Hands down, it was the scariest, most helpless feeling I've ever had in my whole life. I mean, all I'm thinking about is my wife and our unborn child."
A warning to others
Collette says his home's propane heating wasn't venting properly because piles of snow had built up around the foundation of the house.
He has a carbon monoxide detector, but it was unplugged earlier in the week when the propane tank was being serviced.
Collette hopes other families hear the story and make sure their own detectors are working properly.
"To our dismay, we didn't realize how bad it was until it was almost too late," he said.
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