US
Boy Dies Trying To Keep Warm, Dies of Carbon Monoxide
11-Year-Old Boston Boy Dies In Blizzard
One of the most tragic deaths during last weeks blizzard, officially termed Winter Storm Nemo, was an 11-year old boy in Boston who sought warmth in his father’s car during the storm and died due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
According to the Examiner, his father was only steps away from his child clearing away more than two feet of snow that had fallen and surrounded the car when his son told him he was too cold and got inside the vehicle to warm up.
The car’s exhaust, however, was still covered by a snow bank and deadlycarbon monoxide fumes began collecting inside the vehicle, unbeknownst to either father or son, according to Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonal.
“The boy was getting cold so they cleared out the passenger side and the boy got inside to stay warm,” MacDonald explained.
When the father could not revive his son, he suffered a respiratory attack himself and both were transported by emergency responders to the nearest hospital
for treatment.
“I don’t know how long the boy was in the car, at some point the father was still working and was unaware of the boy’s condition,” said Boston firefighter Octavius Rowe, a neighbor who rushed to help the suffering boy.
“So very, very unfortunate.”
“I came over to the car where it all started and the father appeared to have lost consciousness,” Rowe explained.
“He was semi-conscious and laying on the snow bank, and I wanted to first get him off that cold surface.”
“He [the father] was responsive so we were able to, at least, get him up, get him to the stairs. He did say, `My son, my son,’ so he knew his son was involved or was in distress,” Rowe said.
“We were talking to him. He was moaning, but the only discernible thing that he said was `My son.'”
The boy was pronounced dead upon arrival at the emergency room and the father’s condition is unknown.
According to the CDC, unintentional CO exposure accounts for an estimated 15,000 emergency department visits and 500 unintentional deaths in the United States each year
Here’s a video describing the tragic death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HJm9x-iML7k
On The Web:
11-year-old boy dies of carbon monoxide while staying warm during blizzard (Photos)
http://www.examiner.com/article/11-year-old-boy-dies-of-carbon-monoxide-while-staying-warm-during-blizzard
Boy Dies Of Carbon Monoxide In Running Car; Father Was Shoveling Out From ‘Nemo’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/09/nemo-death_n_2653687.html
Carbon Monoxide–Related Deaths — United States, 1999–2004
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5650a1.htm
