A family from Manchester were rushed to hospital on Boxing Day following a carbon monoxide leak at the hotel they were staying at.
Kerri Smith, 45, from Manchester, said she feared ‘11 of her family might not have woken up’ following the ordeal.
Guests at the Royal Bar & Hotel in Morecambe had to be evacuated shortly after 9.30am on Sunday (December 26) after a carbon monoxide leak reportedly caused a number of guests to collapse.
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A number of people staying at the hotel were taken to Royal Lancaster Infirmary for treatment. None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.
Kerri, who now lives in Morecambe, told Lancs Live her extended family were staying at the hotel on Marine Road Central while visiting her parents for Christmas.
She said: "We were all down from Manchester having Christmas with my mum and dad who live here.
"My nephew rang my son to say that his little boy had collapsed. My son went down there and when he got there, more members of the family had collapsed."
The family were due to meet up in the morning for breakfast at a nearby cafe.
Kerri's son, Callum, brought some of the children to the cafe before an ambulance was called to take them to hospital.
Callum, 28, explained: "I saw my cousin walking with his son along the way, he was walking towards the cafe and said that he'd just collapsed in the road.
"He said his son had also done the same that morning in the room but he thought he was just sleepy and fell off the toilet.
"I'd gone down to the cafe and within about five minutes I got a phone call from my cousin asking if I could go and pick the kids up because they had all had 'funny turns'."
Callum told him to get them all out of the room straight away and returned to the hotel to help where he had to drag his cousin and one of the children out.
He said: "One of them was limp, lying on the fall, he couldn't hold his head up or anything. The dad, who was OK five minutes earlier when he was in the street, couldn't walk.
"He was trying to walk with a baby down the stairs, I had to essentially drag him by the scruff of his neck."
Callum got all the children in the car and took them to Rita's cafe to be checked over.
Talking about how lucky they have been, he continued: "If I didn't see my cousin in the street I don't think we would have put the two together and if he'd not rang we'd have been none the wiser.
"It's quite scary to think they might not have rang for help and we'd have been none the wiser.
"It was really frightening to see the children in that state and us parents were panicking.”
All Kerri's family have now been discharged from hospital with no lasting damage.
She added: "There was 11 of them all taken to hospital in ambulances. There were six adults and five children and the last one got released late last night.
"They are all OK and are all home. They were all oxygenated and their levels came down so there was no lasting damage.
"Eleven of my family might not have woken up that morning and we had planned a big family breakfast in the cafe my mam owns in Morecambe, that didn't happen.
"It was just a waiting game. We were all waiting around worried to death."
Kerri said she was thankful she was able to recognise the symptoms in time to help save people's lives.
Kerri said: "There were three members of staff in the bar area and I told them you need to phone the fire brigade because it's carbon monoxide poisoning.
"They said they didn't know it was that. But I told them people don't just collapse for no reason. We got the rest of my family out."
The chief fire officer reportedly praised Kerri for noticing the signs of carbon monoxide so quickly, which had helped save a lot of lives.
She said: "I'm just glad that I knew. I used to work in care and I have seen it happen before, but I am just grateful.
"I actually thought when we got my nephew in the car that he was going to die. He was so confused, he didn't know what was happening, he was worried about his children. It was awful."
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service attended just before 10am on Boxing Day with two crews from Morecambe.
A spokesperson said: "We were called to the presence of carbon monoxide and our fire crews naturally ventilated the rooms.
"We are working with Cadent Gas and it will be passed on to the council and the HSE who will do an investigation."
Lancashire Constabulary were called to the hotel by the ambulance service following a suspected carbon monoxide leak to the hotel on Marine Road Central.
Officers attended with partner agencies including gas service engineers to make the area safe. The building was evacuated and a cordon remained in place yesterday (December 27).
A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said: "Five people were taken to hospital with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. They have all since been discharged.
"An investigation has been launched and enquiries are ongoing."
Anyone with information is asked to contact 101 quoting log reference 0353 of December 26.
A spokesperson for Lancaster City Council said: “The city council yesterday supported the emergency response to a suspected carbon monoxide leak at the Royal Hotel in Morecambe.
“The investigation is in its very early stages and we will be working closely with our partner agencies to determine the exact circumstances of the incident.”
LancsLive was unable to make contact with anyone at The Royal Bar & Hotel.
LancsLive has also contacted the North West Ambulance Service for further information.
