THERE is a silent killer among us and a woman who has felt its worst pain will speak to a Warrnambool audience on Thursday.
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In May 2010, Mooroopna mother Vanessa Robinson lost her two sons, Chase and Tyler, to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Ms Robinson was also poisoned during the same accident and has health issues as a result.
She established The Chase and Tyler Foundation to create awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Homesafe invited Ms Robinson to Warrnambool to share her story and inform the community of how to stay safe at home.
“They’ve (Homesafe) seen a lot of issues throughout their community and really wanted to raise awareness about that,” Ms Robinson said.
The foundation travels throughout South Australia and Victoria and Ms Robinson highlighted Warrnambool as a high-risk area.
“It is such a high risk because of the cold weather,” she said.
Ms Robinson’s talk will cover her own tragedy and how that can be prevented for others.
“I’ll be touching on my children, the accident and how that occurred and what was at fault at that point.
“(I’ll explain) how carbon monoxide poisoning occurs and tell the community how to reduce the risk in their homes.”
She said the single most important thing people could do to reduce the risk was to service their appliances.
“Making sure what they are using is working efficiently, that it’s been installed properly, that it’s working as intended.”
Knowing the risks if appliances aren’t serviced, alarm installation and an understanding of ventilation were also vital, she said.
Ms Robinson said every day since the accident was hard, but she knew speaking about her experience was helping others avoid the same heartache.
“It’s a bit difficult sometimes ... but I like to see other communities and other people take preventative actions.
“Because you go through horrific circumstance you know how awful it is. You don’t want that happening to other people.”
Ms Robinson will speak at the City Memorial Bowls Club Warrnambool at 7pm. Anyone is welcome to attend.