Our teenage son died on the lavatory ground of a distant vacation cottage… he had no concept of the lethal hazard that lurked inside
Tom Hill was just 18 years old when he was found unconscious on the bathroom floor of an off-grid Scottish cottage while on holiday with his girlfriend’s family.
The teenager had decided to have an afternoon soak after a morning of hiking, unaware the portable gas heater was leaking deadly carbon monoxide into the enclosed room.
When Tom didn’t emerge for nearly an hour, and shouts and bangs on the door failed to stir him, an axe was used to smash entry before he was found lifeless on the floor, the tub brimming with water.
Some 550 miles south in Stoney Cross, New Forest, it was a different knock on the door that would change the lives of Jerry Hill, aged 53 at the time, his wife Alison, 49, and their son Joe, 17.
Tom’s father recalls: ‘The police came round at about 11.30pm and broke the news. We were in bed at the time. It was such a shock. We didn’t believe it at first, just comprehending it was a big thing.
‘The officer told us Tom had been killed in an accident and thought it was probably carbon monoxide related. We called a detective in Scotland that same night, he told us we needed to go up and identify Tom the next day.’
Tom, a University of Stirling student, was on holiday in Angus, Scotland with his girlfriend’s family. Despite their best efforts to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead in the ambulance on the way to hospital on October 28, 2015.
Almost ten years on from Tom’s death, his family and friends are gearing up to climb Tryfan a 3,010ft Welsh mountain on May 4. The climb in Tom’s memory will raise money for CO-Gas Safety, the charity that has done what it can to support them since the tragedy.
Tom’s parents Alison and Jerry Hill were in bed when police knocked on their door to tell them the news
Tom was staying in an off-grid Scottish cottage on holiday with his girlfriend’s family when a portable gas heater was leaking deadly carbon monoxide into an enclosed room
Tom’s father said ‘when you lose a child, everything just feels so wrong. It’s totally surreal’
Jerry said: ‘We’ve always tried to remember Tom as a positive person. That is why we’re keen to do this mountain climb to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide.’
Recounting that devastating night, Jerry said: ‘I still remember having to tell all the family. We woke Tom’s younger brother Joe up in the middle of the night, he was just 17 at the time.
‘Telling people, it’s the most awful thing because it suddenly becomes real.
‘When you lose a child, everything just feels so wrong. It’s totally surreal. After a while you just realise you’re not going to see that person again, and it’s very difficult.’
The 150-year-old stone-built Glenmark Cottage was an off-grid hideaway with no electricity on the foot of Mount Keen. Portable gas heaters and a wood-burning stove were used to keep it warm.
The coroner’s report into Tom’s death found there was a ‘widespread lack of awareness about what to do in the event of a carbon monoxide alarm being activated’.
But, the report adds the CO alarm at the cottage ‘was not properly installed’. It was placed on a kitchen worktop rather than fixed on a wall near the ceiling.
Tragically, that CO alarm had sounded the week before while two other guests were staying at the holiday home. The alarm was activated soon after the bathroom heater had been lit.
This alert prompted a visit from a local gas engineer who inspected the bathroom heater and replaced a gas cylinder. He left the property confident the heater was working safely.
Family members have recalled Tom as always being a ‘positive’ person
Tom’s family are ‘keen to do this mountain climb to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide’
The CO alarm had been set off the day before Tom died but the family believed the fridge to be the cause and it stopped ringing when they took it outside
However, according to the coroner’s report, the gas engineer’s qualifications had lapsed 10 years previously when he failed to complete the Gas Safety Register renewal course. This meant he was not legally able to install or maintain gas powered appliances.
The CO alarm sounded again the day before Tom’s death, but due to where it was placed in the kitchen, an assumption was made that its proximity to the gas-powered fridge was causing it to trigger.
Jerry said: ‘Tom and his girlfriend’s family arrived on the weekend before he died. The day before his accident the carbon monoxide alarm sounded in the cottage.
‘They thought it was the fridge because the detector was near it, so the alarm was taken out of the house and brought it back in again. It didn’t go off again and stopped sounding.
‘The portable gas heater in the bathroom, the one that killed Tom, had been on at the time. That’s what set the alarm off.
‘The next day, Tom went and had a bath in the afternoon. When he didn’t come out for nearly an hour they tried to open the door, but it was locked.
‘They broke the door down with an axe, Tom was unconscious. They moved him into the hall and started to perform CPR. There was no phone signal at the cottage so to get an ambulance someone had to drive to the village.
‘By the time the ambulance did arrive Tom had died. Despite constant CPR Tom did not regain consciousness. He was taken to hospital by ambulance but could not be saved’.
Tom had gone for a bath but when he hadn’t left the bathroom after an hour they had to break down the door
Tom’s father said ‘it’s heartbreaking that someone’s life can be taken away just when they are getting started in life’
A Fatal Accident Inquiry report into Tom’s death found that the flueless cabinet heater should never have been used in an enclosed space without ventilation, especially in a bathroom where steam can compromise the combustion process.
The cottage was let by a tenant from the owner. He then sub-let it to a small group of friends as a holiday home. Both parties were prosecuted for breaches of Health & Safety regulations in 2021.
They both admitted that between March 2008 and October 2015, they failed to ensure gas cabinet heaters were maintained in a safe condition to prevent the risk of injury to holiday residents. The owner was fined £120,000 and the tenant was fined £2,000.
No prosecution or fines were ever brought against the engineer despite him not being Gas Safe Registered.
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 packed so much into his 18 years, it’s heartbreaking that someone’s life can be taken away just when they are getting started in life.
‘Our hope is that something positive can come out of this and that would be people knowing what to do if a carbon monoxide alarm sounds.
‘I think we’re very lucky because, as a family, we supported each other, we got through it together, and we’re very lucky for that. This is what has made us stronger and what motivates us to do this climb in memory of Tom.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry report into Tom’s death found that the flueless cabinet heater should never have been used in an enclosed space without ventilation
‘It also gives us an opportunity to raise money for CO-Gas Safety because they have done so much to support us since Tom’s passing.
‘I found the website online and Stephanie (President & Director of CO-Gas Safety) immediately rang me to give her support and advice.
‘We were really pretty desperate, actually, because I was thinking this is never going to come to court. I didn’t really know what to do, I was running out of energy.
‘Stephanie gave me some really good advice, and she put me in touch with a really good lawyer in Scotland who helped us a lot as well.
‘We believe that if things had been done differently Tom would still be alive. We will be donating all money raised to CO-Gas Safety to help them in their work to make carbon monoxide safety more of a priority.’
