A WOMAN who cheated death from carbon monoxide fumes has backed the Examiner campaign to beat the 'silent killer'.
Eileen Denton, of Manor Road, Golcar, was poisoned by fumes leaking from an incorrectly fitted gas fire at her former home in Town End, Golcar.
Eileen, now 73, was exposed to the potentially lethal fumes for three years between 1992 and 1995. And she only survived because of an open window.
Now she has thrown her weight behind the Examiner campaign, launched yesterday in collaboration with British Gas, to protect people from what has been dubbed the Silent Killer.
"I back this campaign 100%," she said. "Carbon monoxide is still killing people and the more that can be done to make people think, the more lives will be saved."
In 1992 Eileen began suffering severe flu-like symptoms.
She said: "It was terrible. It was like the worst hangover you can imagine.
"I was also suffering really bad aches and pains.
"The only thing I could put it down to was ME, I didn't think about carbon monoxide poisoning."
Eileen said: "I retired from work after a heart attack and was spending more time at home.
"I used to curl up on the sofa with the gas fire on - which was just making me worse and worse.
"The only reason I survived is that I had a small window open and I have been told that if I hadn't I would have been gone in an afternoon.
"People should have their gas appliances checked every year and should have a detector to protect themselves.
"It really is a silent killer."
* Look out for stains, soot or discolouring around a gas fire, water heater or boiler.
* An appliance that burns with a yellow or orange flame instead of a blue one.
* A strange smell when the appliance is on.
* Increased condensation inside windows.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If these signs are present then stop using the appliance, open doors and windows to ventilate the room and don't use the appliance again until it has been checked by a Corgi-registered engineer.
For more information log on to from www.britishgassafety.co.uk/carbonmonoxide
* We have 1,000 carbon monoxide detectors - worth £38 each - to give away. See Thursday's Examiner for details
