An Alaskan mother believed her family had caught the flu when her daughter woke up with a headache and her son started throwing up.
But as the Alaska Dispatch News reports, Sarah Klebs and her children had been affected by leaking odourless carbon monoxide from their refrigerator.
While Sarah and her 8-year-old daughter Caroline survived the terrifying ordeal, her 10-year-old son Gavin died from the gas leak.
Investigators determined Gavin’s death was caused by carbon monoxide gas from the propane-powered refrigerator in their cabin near Big Lake. The family were yet to install a carbon monoxide detector in the property at the time.
As The Sun reports, a friend found the family in their cabin after Sarah had described their symptoms and had then stopped replying to texts.
“Prior to this, I never would have thought about it,” Sarah told Alaska Dispatch News about the devastating ordeal. “How would you know?”
Sarah’s husband, Matt, and her eldest son, Connor, were not staying at the cabin at the time.
Installing a carbon monoxide alarm is recommended to help prevent poisoning in the home.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
