Use alarms says father of poisoned Oxford press officer

Katie Haines died after a broken boiler released the lethal gas


The father of an Oxford Uni press officer who died from carbon monoxide poisoning has called for wider use of alarms to detect the lethal gas.

Tragedy..Katie Haines was a press officer for the university

Katie Haines died soon after her honeymoon in 2010 when a gas leak from a broken boiler made her pass out and drown in a bath.

Yesterday her father, Gordon Samuel, warned homes without carbon monoxide alarms risked people’s lives.

Mr Samuel said: “I can’t even articulate what it was like for us to lose our daughter in this way. It is totally unnatural for a child to go before their parents.

“That is why we are encouraging people to to save their own lives and would like to see carbon monoxide alarms become as common in every home as smoke alarms.

“Smoke alarms are not compulsory but you would be foolish not to have one. The same should be said about carbon monoxide alarms.”

The Department of Health says 50 people are killed by carbon monoxide poisoning and at least 4,000 are treated in hospital in the UK each year.

The University has negotiated a special price on alarms, which can be bought here.