Carbon monoxide: Hero Monmouthshire boy, 4, raised alarm

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Grayson TaylorImage source, Family photo
Image caption,

"He has made us so incredibly proud," says Grayson's mum Hannah

A schoolboy has been hailed a hero after he saved his family from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Grayson Taylor, four, woke his parents at 01:15 GMT to alert them to a beeping noise coming from downstairs in their Monmouthshire home.

He urged them to get out of bed and they discovered a carbon monoxide alarm going off next to their wood burner.

His mother Hannah said without her son's quick-thinking the "situation could have ended differently".

"Grayson, my husband, seven-month-old daughter Dotty and I were at home asleep," she said.

"He woke us up very calmly alerting us to an alarm that was going off downstairs and that we needed to get up.

"It turned out to be our carbon monoxide alarm where our log burner is, and it's not an overly loud alarm."

Hannah added that Grayson often asks his parents to lift him up so he can check the fire alarms at their home in Portskewett, Monmouthshire.

"Grayson has always been a very inquisitive child and has had a thing about fire alarms since he was small," she said.

"He regularly asks us to lift him up so he can check them around the house so this was definitely his time to shine."

Image source, Family photo
Image caption,

This was Grayson's "time to shine", his mum Hannah says

Hannah rang the non-emergency fire service, who visited the home to carry out checks and said the carbon monoxide is thought to have come from an open fire in the living area.

Grayson has now been praised for his actions at his school with a Queen Elizabeth II bravery award.

"He has made us so incredibly proud," said mum Hannah.

"Not only handling the situation in a calm and brave manner but also being a role model at four years old and standing up in front of the whole school to share his story."

His grandmother Toni said Grayson told her he had been dreaming of a fire alarm going off when he woke up.

She said: "Grayson demonstrated he was aware of an emergency, he remained calm and was able to articulate calmly to his parents, notifying them of the potential danger.

"He is now in charge of doing regular tests on my smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in my home."