Tom Hill was only 18 years old when he was found unconscious on the bathroom floor of an off-grid Scottish cottage while he was on vacation with his girlfriend's family.
The teenager had decided to have an afternoon of walking an afternoon of walking, not knowing that the portable gas heating leaked fatal carbon monoxide in the enclosed room.
When Tom did not appear for almost an hour and cried and pony on the door could not stir him, an ax was used to break access before he was found lifeless on the floor, the bath full of water.
About 550 miles south in Stoney Cross, New Forest, it was another knock on the door that would change the life of Jerry Hill, at the time 53 years old, his wife Alison, 49, and their son Joe, 17.
Tom's father remembers: 'The police came around at around 11.30 pm and broke the news. We were in bed at the time. It was such a shock. We didn't believe it in the beginning, it was just a big thing.
“The officer told us that Tom was killed in an accident and thought it was probably related to carbon monoxide. We called a detective in Scotland that same night, he told us that we had to go upstairs the next day and identify Tom. '
Tom, a student from the University of Stirling, was on vacation in Angus, Scotland with his girlfriend's family. Despite their best efforts to resuscitate him, he was declared dead in the ambulance on his way to the hospital on October 28, 2015.
Almost ten years after the death of Tom, his family and friends to climb a 3,010ft Welsh Mountain on 4 May. Support them since the tragedy.
Tom's parents Alison and Jerry Hill were in bed when the police knocked on their door to tell them the news
Tom stayed in an off-grid Scottish cottage on vacation with his girlfriend's family when a portable gas heater leaked deadly carbon monoxide in an enclosed room
Tom's father said: 'If you lose a child, everything just feels so wrong. It is completely surrealistic '
Jerry said: 'We always tried to remember Tom as a positive person. That is why we want to do this mountain climb to increase the consciousness of the dangers of carbon monoxide. '
Jerry told that devastating night and said: 'I remember that I had to tell the whole family. We woke up Tom's younger brother Joe in the middle of the night, he was only 17 at the time.
'Telling people, it is the most terrible because it suddenly becomes real.
'If you lose a child, everything just feels so wrong. It is completely surreal. After a while you just realize that you will no longer see that person, and it is very difficult. '
The 150-year-old Stenen Glenmark Cottage was an off-grid hiding place without electricity on the foot of Mount Keen. Portable gas heaters and a wood stove were used to keep it warm.
The coroner's report in the death of Tom discovered that there was a 'widespread lack of consciousness about what to do in the case of an alarm from carbon monoxide that was activated'.
But the report adds the CO alarm to the house 'is not installed correctly'. It was placed on a kitchen workshop instead of being attached to a wall near the ceiling.
Tragically enough, Co -Alarm sounded the week before, while two other guests were staying in the holiday home. The alarm was activated shortly after the bathroom heating was lit.
This warning led to a visit from a local gas engineer who inspected the bathroom heating and replaced a gas cylinder. He let the building convinced that the stove worked safely.
Family members have remembered Tom as always a 'positive' person
Tom's family wants to do this mountain climb to increase the consciousness of the dangers of carbon monoxide '
The co -alarm was on the day before Tom died, but the family believed that the fridge was the cause and it stopped ringing when they took it out
However, according to the coroner's report, the qualifications of the gas engineer had expired 10 years earlier when he did not complete the renewal course of the gas safety register. This meant that he was unable to install or maintain equipment in gas driven.
The co-alarm sounded again the day before Tom's death, but because of where it was placed in the kitchen, an assumption was made that the proximity of the gas-driven refrigerator caused it to be activated.
Jerry said: 'Tom's family and his girlfriend arrived during the weekend before he died. The day before his accident the alarm of carbon monoxide in the cottage sounded.
'They thought it was the fridge because the detector was close, so the alarm was taken out of the house and brought it back in. It didn't go away again and stopped sounding.
'The portable gas heating in the bathroom, the one who killed Tom, had been on at that time. That is what the alarm has set.
“The next day Tom took a bath in the afternoon. When he did not come out for almost an hour, they tried to open the door, but it was locked.
'They broke the door with an ax, Tom was unconscious. They brought him into the hall and began to carry out CPR. There was no telephone signal in the house, so to get an ambulance, someone had to drive to the village.
“By the time the ambulance arrived, Tom died. Despite constant resuscitation, Tom does not renew the consciousness. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance, but could not be saved '.
Tom had gone for a bath, but when he had not left the bathroom after an hour, they had to break the door
Tom's father said: “It is heartbreaking that someone's life can be removed, just when they start in life.”
A fatal accident research report in Tom's death showed that the grieous cupboard heating should never have been used in an enclosed space without ventilation, especially in a bathroom where steam can endanger the combustion process.
The house was rented by a tenant from the owner. Then he subts it to a small group of friends as a holiday home. Both parties were prosecuted in 2021 for infringements of health and safety regulations.
They both admitted that between March 2008 and October 2015 they were unable to ensure that the cabinet heaters were maintained in a safe state to prevent the risk of injury to residents of the holiday. The owner was fined £ 120,000 and the tenant was fined £ 2,000.
There were never prosecution or fines against the engineer, even though he was not registered gas -safe.
Jerry said: 'Tom was a very happy person and that is how we like to remember him. He worked hard to overcome obstacles in his life.
'He has packed so many in his 18 years, it is heartbreaking that someone's life can be removed, just when they get started in life.
'Our hope is that something positive can come out and that would be people who know what to do as an alarm of carbon monoxide sounds.
'I think we are very lucky because we as a family supported each other, we got through it together and we are very lucky with that. This is what made us stronger and what motivates us to do this climb in memory of Tom.
A fatal accident investigation report in Tom's death showed that the grieous cabinet heating should never have been used in an enclosed space without ventilation
'It also gives us the chance to raise money for CO-gas safety because they have done so much to support us since the death of Tom.
'I found the website online and Stephanie (president and director of Co-Gas Safety) immediately called me to give her support and advice.
'We were actually quite desperate, because I thought this would never come to court. I didn't really know what to do, I had no energy anymore.
'Stephanie gave me really good advice and she brought me into contact with a really good lawyer in Scotland who also helped us a lot.
“We believe that if things were done differently, Tom would still live. We will donate all the collected money to put together safety to help them in their work to make the safety of carbon monoxide more a priority. '
