Mom’s bleach mix scare

LONDON: A mother almost died from chlorine gas poisoning after accidentally creating a lethal cocktail of chemicals to mop her kitchen floor.

Charley Howson was overcome by the fumes and left in severe pain after mixing several household cleaning products in a bucket.

The 36-year-old put a deadly combination of bleaches and cleaning agents in with hot water to mop the floor in an attempt to get a deeper clean.

But within minutes she started to suffer agonising chest pains as chlorine gas was produced from the mix last Wednesday.

Her son, Corey, 15, heard her screaming in pain and dialled the emergency services. Howson, said: “The pain got worse and worse, I thought I was having a heart attack.

“I’ve had a collapsed lung before, and it felt a bit like that. I told Corey not to call an ambulance, I said I’d be fine, but I was in agony.”

Paramedics found her oxygen levels were dangerously low and she was taken to hospital.

The mother of three added: “I was petrified.

“I didn’t know what was happening, and just kept thinking about my kids.”

She was put on oxygen at hospital and given a chest X-ray to check if she had suffered a collapsed lung, but it came back clear.

She said: “The doctor asked if I had been cleaning, because the paramedics mentioned a strong smell of bleach.

“He said mixing those chemicals with the hot water had given me chlorine gas poisoning. I was stunned, I couldn’t believe it.

“The doctor said if my son hadn’t phoned for the ambulance when he did, it could have been a lot worse.

“Corey’s really mature for his age, and I’m so grateful he didn’t listen to me when I said I was fine.

“It could have been so much worse. I could not be here. It could have killed me.”

Bleaching agents are made up of chlorine compounds that can release the chlorine element when brought into contact with other chemicals. – Daily Mail