Corfu tragedy: Family call for tighter controls
Tuesday, 05 Dec 2006 16:33
Neil Shepherd spoke for the first time today about his children's deaths
Grief-stricken relatives of two children who were fatally poisoned while on holiday in Corfu have called for tighter guidelines to prevent such tragedies from occurring.
The families of Christianne Shepherd, seven, and her brother Bobby, six, urged the holiday industry to ensure that tourists are not put at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The children died after their apartment in the Greek island was filled with the odourless gas while they stayed there in October.
Father Neil Shepherd and his partner, Ruth Beatson, were also in the hotel room at the time and all four were found unconscious by a maid in the morning.
The adults recovered after being treated in hospital but both children died.
Speaking at a news conference to raise awareness about the issue, Paul Wood, the husband of the dead children's mother Sharon Wood, spoke on behalf of the two families.
"We as a family asked the holiday industry what measures they intend to take to prevent tragedies such as this ever happening again," he said in a statement.
"We hope that we can contribute to pushing the multi-million pound holiday industry into providing at least a standard level of safety that will allow all future holidaymakers to be confident they will wake up in the morning and take a breath of fresh air," he added.
Mr Shepherd and his partner were also at the press conference, which was held as part of carbon monoxide awareness week, and the bereaved father spoke out about the night his children died for the first time.
"Within ten minutes of getting into bed Christi started crying and being sick. Ruth and I immediately got up and went to comfort the children," he said while fighting back tears.
"Both Ruth and I collapsed and went into a coma. We were discovered by a chambermaid the following morning.
"Christi and Bobby were already dead. Ruth and I were treated at the local hospital and would like to thank the hospital staff for saving our lives."
The government has echoed the calls for the gas, energy and heating industry to do more to reduce carbon monoxide-related deaths.
Work and pensions secretary John Hutton has written to senior figures at all major companies within the sector asking them to play a "crucial leadership role".
"New effort is needed to increase the public's knowledge of gas safety risks and how they can be minimised," he wrote in his letter.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that gas appliances should be checked and serviced regularly by a Corgi-registered installer and that carbon monoxide detectors are used in all properties.