Four-month-old Thor became a real-life superhero for his family – who had no clue their lives were in danger.
A 4-month-old kitten named Thor’s family is likely very excited they decided to name their cat after a superhero. That’s because he ended up being a real-life hero and saving all of their lives. The family had no idea that their home was filling up with deadly carbon monoxide. When a power outage hit the Stamper Family’s home in Farmington Hills, Michigan, they hooked up a power generator in their garage. The garage door was accidentally closed so that the generator fumes couldn’t escape. Carbon monoxide filled up the garage and spilled into their home. The entire family, Heidi and Ronald Stamper, their 13-year-old daughter, and 11-year-old son, were all home and asleep.
Thor instinctively knew something was wrong. He started to cry so loud it made a screeching noise that woke up Heidi.
The kitten also looked desperately sick. She brought the kitten outside where he started to perk up. They then came inside. Heidi then immediately lost consciousness. But Thor was able to stay awake and went and woke up the children. The half-conscious children were able to get their parents out of the house. Emergency services were called and the Farmington Hills Fire Department immediately responded. The family was flown to Promedica Hospital in Toledo to get specialized treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning.
The entire family required hospitalization.
“This is a frightening example of how carbon monoxide can accumulate quickly and potentially be fatal,” Farmington Hills Fire Chief Jon Unruh told MLive. “Fortunately, this incident had a positive ending, but we hope all families will learn from the Stampers and keep their generators outside.” Officials said that if Thor didn’t wake the family up, they could have all died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The family did not have carbon monoxide alarms installed. Now they have several installed in their home. Thankfully the family was released from the hospital and is doing OK. Heidi will need to continue to be seen by specialists. A GoFundMe was started for the family to help with their medical bills which has so far only reached $6,490 of its $50,000 goal.
Carbon monoxide is odorless, tasteless, colorless, and pretty much impossible to detect.
It can quickly build up and linger in the air for hours. Even after the sources of the carbon monoxide is shut off.
“The Stampers now want others to learn from their difficult experience. They are helping the Fire Department spread the word that portable generators should only be operated OUTSIDE and must be placed far away and downwind from windows, doors, and vents,” the fire department said in a press release.
“The fire department reminds everyone that generators should never be used inside homes, garages, basements, sheds, or any other enclosed or partially enclosed spaces. In this case, using a portable generator in an enclosed garage almost had deadly consequences.”
You can learn more about this amazing story of the tiny kitten hero in Local 4’s newscast below!
