Alvin family's carbon monoxide leak nearly turned fatal
ALVIN, Texas (KTRK) -- For Natalie Smith and her 4-year-old son Cameron, a few days of headaches suddenly took a more dangerous turn.
"I started feeling really dizzy and couldn't really read my phone anymore hardly," Smith said.
After confusion and lightheadedness started Tuesday afternoon, Natalie called her husband at work.
"My husband was like, 'Get out of the house now!" And I said, 'Why? What?' I couldn't even put two and two together because the confusion had set in," she said
The problem was a carbon monoxide leak. Smith thinks the stove may be the source, but they've turned off all gas to the home just to be safe.
After her husband's warning, Smith and her son rushed out into the cold and to a neighbor's home. They called 911.
Firefighters told the family they could have been just minutes away from death.
"I couldn't believe I was that close to not knowing. And then I felt guilty because I didn't have the right equipment to know that we were at risk," Smith said. "I'm just glad it didn't affect him as much as it did me."
Now, Smith is making it her mission to spread the word about the importance of carbon monoxide detectors. They've already installed two.
"You think about smoke detectors. Everyone talks about smoke detectors, but there's not as much discussion about carbon monoxide detectors," she said.
