Surrey mum: "We should be protecting ourselves against this silent killer. You can't smell it. You can't taste it. You can't see it."
Cathy Foley lost her son Hudson to carbon monoxide poisoning in 2023 and is urging people to be aware of the dangers it can pose
A Surrey mum is urging people to be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide following the death of her son
Cathy Foley lost her son Hudson to carbon monoxide poisoning in 2023, and has since started the Pack CO Safe campaign in partnership with Safer Tourism.
Hudson died in Ecuador while travelling after he had been feeling ill for several days. His family say he was usually fit and healthy, but had complained about sickness and light-headedness, and had passed out several times in the days before his passing
Hudson died with a carbon monoxide blood level of 51.75% - normal levels of carbon monoxide levels in healthy adults range between 0 to 5%.
The Pack CO Safe campaign urges people to carry carbon monoxide alarms when they are travelling. The alarm which is encouraged by the campaign is one that directly attaches to a backpack through a ribbon and costs around £20.
Cathy told us the alarm sold over 2,000 units nearly instantly when it was first launched
"We sold 2000 carbon monoxide travel alarms in the space of two to three hours, that confirmed to me that if we can get good media exposure and good media coverage rather, then potentially we can get the word out.
We're also doing talks and workshops to again highlight how people can protect themselves when they're travelling and we've also donated a number of carbon monoxide travel alarms to local schools and colleges.
Next steps for the campaign would be to persuade travel companies to highlight the dangers of carbon monoxide on their websites and also to strongly recommend that every single travel traveller takes a carbon monoxide alarm"
The other key part of Cathy's mission is to raise awareness of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide, she told us about how she regrets not fully understanding the issue before Hudson's death
"One of my huge guilts in the wake of Hudson's death is as a mother, I did not know about carbon monoxide, not really. And I definitely didn't know that there was a way of protecting him."
She adds why the Pack CO Safe is so important to her family
"I know that he would absolutely support what we're doing because it enables him to still protect others. It's also our family's way of trying to ensure that something positive comes out of something so tragic."
Cathy also told us it's important for everyone to be aware of Carbon Monoxide due to it's lethality
"We should be protecting ourselves against this silent killer. You can't smell it. You can't taste it. You can't see it.
The only way that we can really protect ourselves is by carrying a carbon monoxide travel alarm, and they're so small, it just seems bizarre that not many people know about it. And for such an inexpensive price, this little device could have saved Hudson's life."