My Carbon Monoxide Experience
by Alexei Korpi
When I was 16, I came minutes away from losing my life — and my parents — to carbon monoxide. Our home’s boiler had failed, and CO had begun rapidly building up in the house while we slept. Both of my parents were incapacitated and lost consciousness in their sleep. The only reason I stayed conscious was that my bedroom window was open that night. When I woke the next morning, I was eventually able to phone my sister.
She immediately recognized that I wasn’t speaking coherently and called 911. If my window had been closed, or if I’d woken even an hour later, my story would be very different.
Growing up, I assumed the alarms on our walls protected us from both fire and carbon monoxide. They didn’t — they were smoke alarms, which do not detect carbon monoxide. I later learned that only about 5% of smoke alarms are actually dual alarms that detect both smoke and CO. That gap in awareness is common; in fact, 55% of families believe CO alarms aren’t necessary. Mine was one of them.
My family and I narrowly escaped an invisible and odorless toxin. We were rushed to the hospital and received treatment in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Thankfully, none of us has suffered any long-term effects of the exposure. CO symptoms are often mistaken for the flu — that’s exactly what I thought when I first woke up while being exposed. I thought I was just sick and almost slept through it. Waking again and calling for help is the only reason I’m here to tell this story.
That experience is why I don’t want anyone to put off buying a CO alarm. Many fire stations and CO organizations — like the Jenkins Foundation — give out carbon monoxide detectors for free, to protect you and the people you love. Carbon monoxide is called “the silent killer” for a reason: it can kill in minutes, and even in four to six hours — not even a full night’s sleep.
My name is Alexei Korpi, and this is my story.
Alexei shared this video as part of his Senior Capstone project on carbon monoxide safety. His project also included giving out free CO alarms (donated by the Jenkins Foundation) to families in his community at Freshwaters United Methodist Church’s free school supply distribution event, held during the 2026 Princeton (Minnesota) Community Day of Kindness.
