An appeal from Lynne Griffiths, President Carbon Monoxide Awareness Charity and Founder of National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week
My name is Lynn Griffiths. You like many others are properly unaware I even exist so please allow me to introduce myself.
- From 1988 – 1999 My family and I were poisoned by carbon monoxide for over a decade.
- From 1999 – 2005 I became carbon monoxide aware and made some great contacts in the UK and America.
- From 2005 – 2014 I worked long hours unpaid as president of the charity “Carbon Monoxide Awareness.“
I have spend the last 26+ years either being poisoned by carbon monoxide or trying to prevent what my family and I went through, and are still going through, from happening to someone else.
- I know what it’s like to be a victim of carbon monoxide.
- I know what it’s like to be poisoned by carbon monoxide and have nobody to turn to for help, support or advice.
- I know what it’s like to get misdiagnosed by a doctor as suffering from the flu or a virus etc.
- I know what it’s like to have carbon monoxide cause long term and permanent health problems with debilitating effects to the sufferer.
- I know what it’s like to love someone only to lose them and have to bring up a son aged three years and three others all of school age all alone.
- I know what it’s like for a solicitor/barrister tell you that you that according to your medical records you had a miscarriage at the time you were pregnant with your daughter.
- I know what it’s like to try and get a school’s SENCO teacher to give your son the correct cognitive tests only to have your pleas fall on deaf ears.
- I know what it’s like to pay for a service (annually) for over a decade only for a blocked flue to be missed over and over again.
- I know what it’s like to have the legal system fail you due to a solicitor’s lack of knowledge.
- I know what is like to care and understand.
- I know what it’s like to work unpaid for long hours to try and prevent what happened to your family from happening to others.
- I know what it’s like to not have the support you so desperately need from both hospitals and GP’s surgeries to help make a difference.
- I know what it’s like to have no donations or government funding to help you continue with something you know just a little more than most about.
- Please click here to see all the charity has to survive on
>> Donate to CO Awareness here <<
The reason for this appeal is there have been far too many carbon monoxide incidents report already this year and it left me wondering:
Where the next carbon monoxide incident will happen?- Who will be next to fall victim to this silent invisible killer?
- How many people will visit their doctor this winter only to hear the same words they heard last year. It’s the flu, it’s a virus, it’s a hangover or food poisoning when the patient is really suffering the effects of chronic carbon monoxide poisoning just like my family and I were?
To help prevent the next carbon monoxide incident from being missed the charity would like to see as many organisations as possible out raising awareness about the Dangers of Carbon Monoxide Week starting Monday 17th November 2014.
While NARU and AACE have fantastic websites….
- Association Ambulance Chief Executives: http://aace.org.uk/the-aace-supports-carbon-monoxide-awareness/
- National Ambulance Resilience Unit: http://naru.org.uk/naru-supports-carbon-monoxide-awareness/
…many hospitals don’t appear have anything on their website’s that help raise awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide incidents over the last 21 months have been rising faster than the charity has ever seen before.
The charity should have wound up two years ago due to lack of funding but we couldn’t due to the calls we were getting from the public to say “I have been poisoned by carbon monoxide from my oil burning appliance and this isn’t possible because carbon monoxide only comes from faulty gas appliances.”
Working together to help prevent deaths and injuries from Carbon Monoxide:
Please help “Carbon Monoxide Awareness” charity raise awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide in your own community. Please pledge your free time to help the charity raising awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide to those living/working in your community during week starting Monday 17th November – Sunday 23rd November 2014. Working together I believe has always had a much bigger impact.
>> Donate to CO Awareness here <<
Info:
Carbon Monoxide Awareness Charity is an independent registered charity run “entirely” by unpaid volunteers.
The charity’s 9th Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week runs Monday 17th November to Sunday 23rd November 2014. The week always starts the third Monday in November every year.
Please add this date to your diary and pledge your support to the charity if you can by giving a little of your valuable time to help the charity educate those living/working in your community about the danger of carbon monoxide.
Working together to have the biggest impact at raising “public awareness” about the dangers of carbon monoxide week starting Monday 17th November.
For more info on ways to get involved in the charity’s 9th National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week please click here: http://covictim.org/articles/details/pledge-your-support-to-charity-s-9th-national-carbon-monoxide-awareness-week–
The charity is keen to make sure that those who need advice and/or support to find us a little quicker. If you come across someone who has been effected by carbon monoxide and they want someone to talk to please pass on my contact details.
I will close now by saying “thank you” you for taking the time to read this appeal.
For more details or if your organisation can help, please contact me via the below:
Mobile: 07715 899 296
Website: www.co-awareness.org
Twitter: @LynnCOaware
