Guardian Angels – An Answer to a Grandmother’s Prayer

I’ve been in the habit of praying for my children, husband, and extended family for a long time.  It isn’t a long prayer – simple really.  God – please watch over my husband, my children and son-in-law, grandchildren, parents, and my sister and her family keep them safe today.  Send your armies of angels to surround them and protect them and keep them safe and from causing harm to others. I am choosing to trust that whatever happens to them, your angels will be there with them. Simple and to the point.  It was how I would start my days and release my loved ones into God’s care.  A way for me to acknowledge that I really have no control over how they chose to live their lives and a recognition that God is always with us.

This story is about my oldest daughter Tina and her daughter, Samantha.  Today, Samantha is 19 years old on Nov. 12.

In 1993, my daughter, Tina and my granddaughter, Sammi were living in a 2 family house not far from us.  Sammi was not yet two years old.  They lived on the first floor and the basement of the house.  Their bedrooms were in the finished basement.  it was late autumn and the nights were turning cold.  Tina had had two weeks of worsening sinus headaches as the weather had changed from summer to autumn.  It had been cold enough that the furnace had started coming on when needed.

It was about 9:30pm and Tina was sitting on her back porch – just outside the kitchen door, talking with a friend.  Sammi had been in bed since about 8pm.  She was such a good kid.  After a read her a story and helped her with prayers, she would lay down and go to sleep for the night.

That night, after being asleep for more than an hour, Sammi woke up screaming.  Tina raced down the basement steps wondering what could have scared the child so.  As Tina, got to Sammi’s crib, Tina realized she (Tina) was having trouble breathing. She grabbed Sammi and barely made it up the basement steps and out the back door without falling. She could feel herself struggling to stay conscious. Once outside, Sammi was crying and Tina was trying to breathe.  Tina realized it must be carbon dioxide in the basement.  Maybe the sinus headache was not a sinus headache.

The gas company sent someone out very quickly.  The CG&E technician went into the basement (with appropriate breathing gear) measured the level of CO2 at  over 1500 ppm and turned off the gas to the house.  He advised Tina anything over 50 ppm was considered dangerous.  He didn’t know how the child had awakened from that.  He later discovered that a bird had built a nest in the flue, preventing the CO2 from properly dispersing. Carbon dioxide puts people to sleep.  You don’t normally wake up.  How did Sammi wake up and have no negative consequences?  I think the angels woke her.  What do you think?

Standards or Guidelines

The OSHA standard for workers is no more than 50 ppm for 1 hour of exposure. NIOSH recommends no more than 35 ppm for 1 hour. The U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards for CO (established in 1985) are 9 ppm for 8 hours and 35 ppm for 1 hour. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends levels not to exceed 15 ppm for 1 hour or 25 ppm for 8 hours.