IT is tragic news that Deborah Coster, 60 and her husband Jonathan, 45, died from acute carbon monoxide poisoning in their Yate home because of a poorly maintained boiler.
The inquest heard that their 40-year-old coal fire boiler had not been serviced for approximately 10 years – resulting in the leaking of gases and fumes and their subsequent deaths.
The couple died prematurely because of a faulty appliance – a depressingly needless and irreparable consequence.
It might cost a few pounds to have a boiler serviced every year but not doing so can come at a much higher price, as in this case, the lives of two people.
If their boiler had been properly serviced, the couple would almost certainly be alive today.
If anything other than tragedy can come from their story, it is the raised awareness of how vital it is to maintain appliances in the home, in particular those of which are capable of causing life-threatening malfunctions.
Diagnosing and fixing an appliance, an action which could take minutes, could save your life, and not just your life but also the lives of friends, family and visitors to your home.
The assistant coroner stressed at the inquest how very important it was to ensure boilers, of whatever type, were serviced regularly in the light of the toxic gases that can be generated otherwise.
We must all learn from the painfully irreversible result of the Costers’ neglect.
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