Mom-Of-1, Laura Ikeji Recounts Her Near Death Experience With Generator Fumes

Fashion entrepreneur and social media influencer, Laura Ikeji has shared her scary encounter with generator fumes and just like everybody else, it wasn’t a pleasant one and left her grateful for life.

According to the mother-of-one who is the younger sister of media mogul Linda Ikeji, she went to visit a friend some years back and they slept off at night and left the generator running, very close to the door. By the time she woke up, her friend had already passed out on the floor.

Struggling with a headache, pains in her bones and coughing badly, she managed to open the door and put on the generator and almost immediately, started throwing up. With the help of some neighbours, she managed to wake her friend up who also started throwing up.

Below is her twitter thread…

“Let me tell y’all a lil story and how dangerous this generator fume is. So years ago I went to visit my friend at her place in Oniru, decided to pass the night. Power went off at 12midnight or so and she went to put the gen on. And we slept off, I woke up about 1 or 1: 30 am…

I opened my eyes but I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even raise a finger, we both had inhaled the fume for long, I could barely see anything cos the house was covered in ? . And I started praying in my heart, the blood of Jesus saves us, save us. Suddenly I started coughing and could…

..Move my head,looked at the sitting room and saw my friend on the floor, she already passed out, how she got there I didn’t know. That was when I used all the strength in me to get up the bed, with a terrible headache, my bones were weak, I slowly walked to the door and opened..

…Managed to put off the generator that was just in front of the door and started throwing up. Went back into the house that was very dark and started kicking things until I felt my friend’s leg and I started pulling her out of the house still throwing up. We eventually came out.

My breathing was slow, my bones were weak, couldn’t talk or explain to the few neighbors who came to where we laid, just in front of the house on the ground. The neighbors started pouring water on us, and some in typical Naija fashion were praying.

All of a sudden my friend started breathing and throwing up too. Long story short, we survived and left the house that morning. If we had stayed in the house for longer hmmmm God forbid. So when I hear a family of 5, 6 etc died from generator fume, I know what could have happened.

Pls move your generator far far away from the house you sleep. These generators are dangerous.”

Laura’s story comes barely a month after the sad story of how a celebration of love turned into mourning after 10 wedding guests died and twenty others got hospitalized on June 10, in Umuomumu Mbieri, Mbaitoli local government area of Imo state.

The Nation reports that a newly-wed couple hosted their wedding guests from Anambra and had them pass the night at their home after the wedding ceremony. Due to failure of power supply, they ran their generator overnight and put it in the kitchen, locking all doors and windows.

By morning, ten of the guests were found dead while twenty others were rushed to Ikeduru General Hospital in Imo after having inhaled excess generator fumes.

All you need to know about generator fumes

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Due to the poor supply of electricity in Nigeria, generators have become a major source of power supply. Most offices, homes, shops are now being run by generators. Apart from the power they supply, generators are known sources of air pollution. The air they release are toxic to human health and are also known as fumes.

These fumes can be deadly when a certain amount is being inhaled, as carbon monoxide– a major gas in generator fumes, replaces oxygen in the body tissues. When oxygen is being displaced in the body, it prevents blood from carrying out its functions, including transporting oxygen around the body, thus leading to death.

Carbon monoxide is a dangerous, invisible, odourless and colorless gas which can be deadly. Therefore, inhaling this toxic gas into the body leads to death.

Effects

Exposure to moderate and high levels of carbon monoxide over a long period of time has been linked with an increased risk of heart disease. This could also lead to a shorter life span.
Breathing air from generator fume can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue, vomiting, and nausea.
People who survive severe poisoning from generator fumes may suffer long-term health problems.
Inhaling this gas can lead to hypoxia and damage to the nervous system.
Inhaling carbon monoxide could lead to unconsciousness and death in less than three minutes if 12,800pm (1.28) is being inhaled.
Carbon monoxide poisoning in pregnant women may cause severe adverse fetal effects.

Other effects include:

Pneumonia
Skin lesions
Acute kidney failure
Muscle necrosis
Visual problems

Precautionary measures – In order to prevent its effects on health, certain precautionary measures are to be followed.

Avoid placing/directing exhaust pipe of generators to windows in order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Try fixing your generator when you notice the discharge of excess fume.