While in her Smyrna, Delaware, apartment last week, Wilmington University student Natalie Nasatka says she started to feel extremely exhausted and her vision became blurry. Realizing something was very wrong, she managed to hit the SOS button on her Apple Watch, alerting 911, before losing consciousness.
Firefighters soon arrived at Nasatka’s apartment and discovered she’d been exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide believed to be from a faulty heater. Her timely call for help resulted in her being quickly revived in the ambulance with oxygen, a fortunate outcome considering the potentially irreversible damage to the heart and brain that can occur from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The frightening experience highlights the dangers of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas responsible for thousands of fatalities and emergency room visits each year in the U.S. Nasatka regrets not having a carbon monoxide detector in her apartment, a precaution that could have protected both her and her pet cat, who survived because firefighters opened a window. She expressed gratitude for surviving the incident, remarking that the world must still have plans for her.
Source: CBS NEWS