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A mother is grieving after a carbon monoxide incident killed her 11-year-old son and left her husband in hospital in critical condition.
Marina Hills' son Henry Losco died Dec. 19 in his apartment at 1827 Albert St. in Regina after the building suffered a carbon monoxide leak during renovation work. Her husband, Sergio Losco, survived but is still in hospital.
“I used to tell my son, ‘You are loved and cherished every day of your life,’” she said. “Then I would say, 'Do you know how much I love you?' And he would say, “To the moon and back a million times,” and I would say, “Yeah.”
“He was my best friend.”
Hills said she started her new job just two weeks ago and went to work as usual that day. In the afternoon she tried to call home, but received no answer, but assumed they were busy.
When she finished work and returned home, she said she went into the apartment and called for help with the turkey she was carrying, but it was quiet.
Hills entered the kitchen and saw her husband lying on the floor. She said she initially thought he was having a stroke and started calling for help.
“His eyes were wide open, but he was unconscious. They got out of his head,” she said.
Hills then realized Henry was unresponsive and ran from the kitchen into the bedroom, where she found her son, also unconscious. According to her, it was then that she realized that it could be a gas leak, pulled her son out of the apartment and screamed for help. A neighbor came to her aid and called 911.
Hills ran back to her apartment to get her husband out.
“At first I couldn’t move him… but I managed to get him out of there with all my might. I pulled him out the door and saw that he was still breathing,” she said. “I ran back to my son and 911 was told to hold the phone to Henry’s mouth and check to see if he was breathing.”
“I said, 'He's gone.' There is nothing “”.
She tried to resuscitate Henry until first responders arrived and took over. She said she was sitting on the floor when someone came up and told her that her son was dead and her husband was being taken to the hospital.
When the coroner allowed her to return to where her son was later that night, she said she ran up to him and started kissing him.
“I just kept telling him how much I loved him. I told him he needed to wake up. I said, “Just wake up. If you just wake up, it will all be over and we can leave and go home.”
She said the coroner told her an autopsy was not necessary because a blood test showed fatally high levels of carbon monoxide in her son's blood.
Just moved to Regina
Hills said her family moved to Regina from St. John's, N.Y., after she got a new job that allowed her to place Henry in an “expensive football program” with a “very competitive” team in town.
She said Henry wanted to play for the national team and dreamed of going to the Olympics.
“He was so happy, he had so many friends, and we had just moved here and he was so excited to be in Regina to start a new adventure,” Hills said.
The manager of the soccer team Henry played for at St. John's said in a statement that the soccer community is “heartbroken” by his death.
“He had a smile that lit up every room and a laugh that was truly contagious,” Melissa Turner wrote. “As a goalkeeper for the St. John's football team, he had a real passion for football and was a force to be reckoned with on the field. He was the epitome of a teammate—a friend to everyone he met, with a heart of gold and a spirit that inspired those around him.”
Investigation ongoing
At a news conference Monday, Regina Fire and Protective Services Chief Lane Jackson said the investigation is ongoing.
“At this point we can confirm that there was some mechanical work being done on some service equipment in the building,” he said.
“This service equipment was indeed identified as the source of the carbon monoxide release,” Jackson said. “They also inspected, checked and confirmed that other services in the building were operating and the building was safe.”
As of 1:30 p.m. Saturday, all affected residents were allowed to return home.
The investigation is being conducted by multiple agencies, including fire, police, the Saskatchewan Safety Authority and the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.
