While most of us will do anything it takes to get our babies to sleep through the night, one Canadian couple are thanking their stars that their little girl woke them up in the early hours of last Friday morning.
Monique and Kyle Ruppel have credited 15-month-old daughter Celia with saving their lives, after she woke them in the middle of the night, alerting them to a carbon monoxide leak in their home.
As the Ruppels told local media, they live in an old house without carbon monoxide alarms, and ‘it never crossed their minds’ to have them installed in the home.
It happened that there was a leak in the house however, and it was after getting up to attend to Celia that Monique made the discovery. Before she even had time to reach her bedroom door, Monique was hit by vertigo and collapsed, subsequently waking husband Kyle.
When the pair finally made their way to Celia’s crib, the baby began to vomit while one of their cats collapsed at Monique’s feet. It was at this point that the couple knew something serious was happening, and they contacted Monique’s parents to come and pick them up.
After gathering Celia, their pets and their overnight bags, their in-laws arrived – just as Kyle was beginning to black out in the house. The emergency services were contacted, and the family was rushed to hospital for treatment.
While the pets were cared for in a nearby veterinary clinic, the family was transported to Vancouver General Hospital for intensive oxygen therapy. Services investigating the Ruppels’ home weren’t able to even get past the front door of the house without their carbon monoxide detectors going off.
Now all fully recovered, Monique told local media that she is grateful for Celia’s cries, as they most certainly saved their lives.
“I don’t care if she never sleeps through the night ever again, because her waking up is the only thing that saved us. Thank God for Celia. She’s our little guardian angel. That’s how we look at it. She absolutely saved our lives and she doesn’t even know it,” she said.
The Ruppels are now urging people everywhere to ensure that they have working carbon monoxide detectors in their home.
