Nadine Coyle experienced carbon monoxide poisoning in LA

Londonderry singer Nadine Coyle has revealed that she suffered from severe carbon monoxide poisoning while living in the US

Londonderry singer, Nadine Coyle, has revealed she suffered from severe carbon monoxide poisoning while living in the US.

The former Girls Aloud star, 30, said that she became ill in 2010, because of a faulty boiler at her then home in LA.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme, she described it as "a difficult time".

"It was a particularly busy time for me. I was recording, promoting stuff, and I just felt terrible," she said.

"I'd been getting more and more tired and I thought it was the stress and the travel. I didn't think it was anything to do with carbon monoxide.

"But it didn't go away, and it became so draining to be exhausted all the time.

"I felt like my chest was really tight, like I couldn't properly breathe."

Difficult to detect

Carbon Monoxide is a deadly gas that cannot be seen, smelt or tasted.

It is responsible for the deaths of as many as 40 people each year in the UK and thousands more are treated in hospital for the effects of the fumes.

Nadine explained that the toxic exposure also affected her ability to concentrate and to recall facts.

"There was almost like a level of confusion," she said.

"It took me a few seconds longer to work out what everyone else would work out immediately.

"I was supposed to be doing interviews, but at times I found it difficult to focus. Now I can look back and see it in my face, what I was going through.

"There's actually a piece of footage of me at the time, where you can see someone walk past and my eyes look so groggy following them.

"I knew something wasn't right."

The former Girls Aloud singer said she found it 'difficult to concentrate' in interviews

Blisters

Other symptoms included blisters on her tongue, which she attributed to her lip balm.

She said: "The symptoms are so similar to other things, you just can't work it out."

Nadine's mother Lillian, who was also living in the house, experienced symptoms similar to hers, but the pair put it down to the pressure of travelling and working.

"Her symptoms were probably worse than mine. We did think it was strange that we were both unwell at the same time but then we were both travelling and didn't think about it."

Nadine decided to have blood tests done in an effort to understand why she felt so unwell.

When the results came back, her doctor asked her if she had been exposed to heavy metal or gas.

She told him that she had not, as far as she was aware.

But when an engineer serviced the boiler at the house in LA, a crack was detected.

"Straight away, he told me that this was very dangerous, that I needed to get out of the house," she said.

"So then it all pointed towards carbon monoxide poisoning."

'Lucky it was detected'

Leigh Greenham, director of the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring, said Nadine was fortunate to have established the cause of her illness in time.

"Nadine was really unlucky to have this incident, but she was lucky it was detected," he said.

"These incidents can be fatal. In Nadine's case, she probably had low-level carbon monoxide exposure over a prolonged period of time.

"In America, the system is a hot air system, so it blows the heating all around the house.

"Whereas, in the UK, we have warm water feeding radiators. So here, you may have a problem with your boiler but it's restricted to one room.

"Nadine may have had these fumes blowing around her house in the warm air so she was never getting away from it."

A simple carbon monoxide alarm can save lives

Mr Greenham said some states in the US insist on a mandatory carbon monoxide alarm on each property, but in the UK such alarms are not compulsory.

"You can easily get hold of them in the UK," he said.

"The basic message is that you don't want carbon monoxide in your home, so make sure your appliances are regularly serviced by a competent engineer.

"If you have a chimney above a coal-fired fireplace, get it regularly swept and get yourself an alarm. They're easy to purchase, they're not expensive and they're simple to install.

"That way, you know you've protected your home and family."

Moved out

Nadine moved out of the house, which she was renting in LA, and she and her family returned to Ireland and London.

She said it affected how she viewed her life.

"It was a difficult time. Thankfully we were OK, but for a lot of people that doesn't happen."

Urging others to be aware of the dangers gas boilers can present, she said: "I'm speaking out now because I want the information I didn't have at the time to be available to others.

"I have a one-year-old daughter and I would hate for anything like that to happen to her or anybody else."

A UK-wide campaign has been launched to raise awareness of the dangers of carbonmonoxide poisoning. It aims to reduce the number of deaths caused by the deadly gas and encourage the public to install an alarm.