A MOTHER is urging the public to be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning after a gas leak in her cooker left her with toxic levels in her blood.

Claire Jackson, aged 33, had been suffering from a mystery illness for around six months. She was constantly tired and suffered from terrible headaches.

The young mum, who lives with her three-year-old daughter McKenzie in Abernethy Street, Horwich, found herself taking more and more painkillers to deal with her symptoms.

Gas engineers carried out a routine inspection of her cooker on Tuesday and found dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) leaking out of the hob. It was only then that Miss Jackson visited her GP, along with McKenzie, for a blood test, which revealed she had chronic CO poisoning.

She said: “When they told me the results I burst into tears because I was thinking about what could have happened.

“I had images running through my head of McKenzie not being able to wake mummy up and being stuck alone in the house. God forbid, if anything had happened to her.”

Fortunately, McKenzie did not suffer any symptoms, which her mum puts down to her hardly ever being in the kitchen. The oven has been disconnected until it is repaired.

Miss Jackson said: “I just think people need to be made aware of the dangers. They should get their appliances checked regularly and get CO detectors to make sure they are safe.”

For more on this story see Saturday's edition of the paper.