Family fights for carbon monoxide safety after tragedy
Following their own tragedy, one family is hoping to help save others from a hidden danger while traveling.
In 2023, John Heathco and his girlfriend, Abby, were supposed to be enjoying a long weekend by the beach in Mexico, but within hours of getting to their hotel, they felt like something was off.
"They had a couple tacos and some guacamole by the pool, went back to the room and started feeling awful," said Chuck Heathco, father of John.
They thought it was food poisoning, but John Heathco's family said the couple's hotel room had been filled with a silent killer: carbon monoxide.
"After dinner, they went back to the room and never came back out of the room," said Keri Bliss, John Heathco's sister.
Prosecutors said the two had been dead for 11 or 12 hours when they were found in their hotel room. Police said that paramedics received a report that the Americans were unconscious in their room. They were dead by the time paramedics arrived.
The 40-year-old's family described him as intelligent, loving and supportive.
"He was my best friend, too," said Jill Heathco, John Heathco's mother.
Taking action to save lives
Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning not linked to fires kills about 400 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Heathco family is speaking for the first time as they launch the John Wesley Heathco Legacy Foundation, an effort to legally require hotels to have working carbon monoxide detectors in each room. Currently, only 14 states mandate it, including: California, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
"Something has to happen to help prevent this from another family suffering, the loss we have with Johnny and Abby," said Jill Heathco.
The family hopes to empower travelers with safety information.
"Losing Johnny, I pray that no other family has to go through that loss," Jill Heathco said. "We've got a tremendous hole in our heart."
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig and Rep. Mike Levin of California plan to introduce new legislation to require carbon monoxide detectors in hotels and other short-term rentals.
"You would think the large hotel chains would actually do this preventively," said Craig. "I mean, these are literally people's lives that are being impacted. People are dying."
Lawmakers acknowledge this legislation comes with the cost of installing and maintaining carbon monoxide detectors in each hotel room.
"It's common sense and it's something that I hope we can get passed and get signed into law and save lives," said Levin.
For the Heathco family, a life saved means one less family living with their kind of heartbreak.
"What I think about a lot is I'm the father of an amazing man," said Chuck Heathco. "And to this day, I still find myself wanting to be more like him."
Recent carbon monoxide incidents
A CBS News data review of FEMA's National Fire Incident Reporting System found that over the last 15 years, fire departments nationwide responded to about 360 carbon monoxide incidents at U.S. hotels and motels annually. Data on deaths from the reported incidents is not closely tracked.
In February, three Massachusetts women in their 20s died in their hotel room while on vacation in Belize. The cause was determined to be carbon monoxide poisoning.
In April, officials in Costa Rica determined carbon monoxide was the cause of death for Miller Gardner, the teen son of retired New York Yankees player Brett Gardner.
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning may include:
HeadacheDizzinessNauseaVomitingWeaknessChest painConfusionPreventing carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning is preventable with detectors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises people to have a separate CO detector on each floor.
"If you are getting a single carbon monoxide detector, place it near the sleeping areas and make certain the alarm is loud enough to wake you up," the EPA notes on its website.
The agency says like smoke detectors, they need to be tested regularly.
Travelers can also purchase a portable carbon monoxide detector for about $25.
In a statement, chief communications officer for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Ralph Posner, told CBS News: "While carbon monoxide incidents in hotel settings remain rare, AHLA emphasizes the importance of proactive measures to protect guests and employees. Our members are required to comply with all applicable local and state codes with respect to carbon monoxide detection, typically adapted from the International Fire Code. AHLA also encourages our members to follow industry-wide best practices, including regular inspection and maintenance of fuel-burning appliances, proper installation of carbon monoxide detectors in applicable areas, and ongoing staff training on monitoring and emergency response procedures."
Car bomb outside Palm Springs fertility clinic was act of terrorism, officials say
Maintenance worker arrested as manhunt for Louisiana escaped inmates continues
More alarming Newark airport traffic control outages reported
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Tax Bill To Undergo Major Change: What To Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida unveiled an amendment to President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would further shrink Medicaid spending. Roughly 71 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, a government health insurance program that provides free or low-cost coverage to eligible low-income individuals and families, including children, pregnant women, seniors and people with disabilities. Newsweek has contacted Scott's office for comment via email outside regular working hours. Why It Matters Republicans in Congress are seeking to cut Medicaid spending in order to pay for the extension of Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017, which is set to expire at the end of this year. A new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found that the latest version of Trump's bill would result in 11.8 million more Americans being uninsured by 2034 and would cut more than $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare—more than $1 trillion of which would come from Medicaid alone. Republicans have argued that their changes would incentivize work and prevent fraud. A Medicaid accepted here sign in Kokomo, Indiana, in September 2019. A Medicaid accepted here sign in Kokomo, Indiana, in September 2019. GETTY What To Know The amendment would block new enrollees in Medicaid expansion states from receiving the enhanced 9-to-1 Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) if they are able-bodied and have no dependent children. Current Medicaid enrollees in expansion states would retain the 9-to-1 rate, even if they leave the program temporarily to work. The lower FMAP rate for new enrollees would take effect in 2031. According to a report by The Hill, the amendment, if passed, would save an additional $313 billion in federal spending. It is co-sponsored by GOP Senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and Finance Chair Mike Crapo of Idaho. The amendment has also won the support of other Republicans, with Florida Representative Randy Fine saying on X, formerly Twitter, that he is "all in." I'm all in. Florida has proven Obamacare Medicaid Expansion is a scam. With th is amendment, Florida taxpayers will get less ripped off by Blue States handing out free healthcare to illegals and twenty-somethings too busy protesting to get jobs. Well done, @SenRickScott! — Congressman Randy Fine (@RepFine) June 29, 2025 What People Are Saying Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, on X, formerly Twitter, on June 29: "My proposal to fix FMAP will make the Big Beautiful Bill even more aligned with President Trump's goal to balance the budget, grow the economy, and put Americans first. "We cannot allow Dem-led blue states to use YOUR tax dollars to give illegal aliens Medicaid benefits, exploit this safety net, and jeopardize help for those who truly need it." Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters on Sunday, per Semafor: "We think it's a really good policy, and I think a lot of us are going to be supporting it. It's great policy and something that's there's a high level of interest in our conference of making it part of the final bill." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, on X: "Republicans are jamming an insane and destructive bill down the throats of the American people in the dead of night. It's the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. The massive tax breaks for billionaires will add trillions to our national debt. Keep the pressure on." What Happens Next The Senate voted 51-49 late Saturday to proceed with the bill, teeing off the next steps toward passing it, likely this week. It would then head back to the House for a final vote before being signed into law by the president.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Obsessive step counts are ruining walking
According to my phone, I've been averaging about 6,600 steps a day so far this year. My meager effort pales in comparison to the 15,000, 20,000, or even 30,000 steps I see influencers on my feed bragging about regularly. The algorithm likes to remind me of my shortcomings. Although the long-held standard benchmark of 10,000 steps has been debunked, it seems many are aiming even higher these days. TikTok and Instagram feed me clip after clip of productive people racking upward of seven miles over the course of three-plus hours and multiple walks. They wake up at 4 am to walk. They walk and check emails. They walk and read. They walk to the grocery store or during meetings. They stride on walking pads, treadmills, and outdoors. They flash their Apple Watches to the camera to show their progress. View Link To be clear: There is nothing wrong with walking — it's a free and low-impact exercise that, compared to running, has greater mass appeal. Americans are overwhelmingly sedentary, spending an average of 9.5 hours a day seated, and anything that inspires people to move more is good news. But quantifying your every step, tracking every ounce of protein ingested, or hours slept can border on obsessive. The current cultural fixation on nutrition and fitness also speaks to a shift toward beauty standards that once again idealize thinness. Mix that with American hustle culture, and you have a recipe for turning a low-key activity into a compulsion. 'This all comes down to how much our culture values productivity above everything else,' says Keith Diaz, an associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. 'It's just another metric that we measure ourselves by.' Walking is perhaps one of the most functional and accessible forms of movement: It gets you where you want to go, and you don't need any special equipment to do it. The vast majority of people walk at some point during their day without having to think too much about it. It makes sense, then, that walking has come in and out of fashion as a form of exercise throughout history. In the late 1800s, leisure walking became a popular sport. A century later, at the height of the fitness boom in the 1980s, walking got a rebrand and a refresh, thanks to a book called Heavyhands touting the benefits of walking with weights. 'That became,' says Danielle Friedman, the author of Let's Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped The World, 'a way to make walking not seem weak.' To achieve a textbook hot girl walk, you must walk four miles while expressing gratitude and envisioning your goals. The pandemic was a major boon for walking. With gyms and fitness studios closed and cabin fever setting in, many took to strolling as a way to get moving out of the house. Walking was gentler and less punishing than the high-intensity fitness trends of the early 2000s, Friedman says. 'The pendulum swung a little bit more toward just appreciating movement for movement's sake,' she says. But as social media caught on — the original 'hot girl walk' clip was posted on TikTok in January 2021 — walks became more performative. Walking now had a purpose. To achieve a textbook hot girl walk, for instance, you must walk four miles while expressing gratitude and envisioning your goals. Over time, the step counts ballooned. Keeping careful track of your mileage also has a long history. The first modern pedometer was designed in 1965 in Japan. Called the manpo-kei, or 10,000 steps meter, this simple act of marketing helped cement the 10,000-step threshold as a benchmark that one should strive to hit for good health and well-being. The science doesn't quite back up the marketing. Recent research has found that among women in their 70s, as few as 4,400 steps a day is related to lower mortality, compared to 2,700 steps or less. Those who walked more had even less risk for early mortality, but those benefits tapered off at more than about 7,500 steps. Another study of middle-aged adults found that those who took 8,000 steps were less likely to die early from heart disease and cancer compared to those who only took 4,000 steps. Again, the benefits plateaued after 8,000 steps. Similar findings suggest that 7,000 steps was the magic number (the studies, it should be noted, were observational and could not prove causation.) If you're walking for health, 7,000 to 8,000 steps, however, seems like a pretty good bet. These days, everyone's got a step counter in their pocket or on their wrist. Health tracking apps on phones and wearables like the Apple Watch, Oura, Fitbit, and Whoop have made it much easier to account for every single step. Health-related tracking can be extremely motivating when it comes to behavior change. When you have specific health or fitness goals, tracking is a good way to measure success. 'You have a target and you have a means to measure it,' Diaz says, 'which is great.' At the same time, you should want to engage in that activity because you like it and not because your watch or an influencer is telling you to move. Unless you're intrinsically motivated to achieve that goal — I walk because I like the way it feels — tracking can veer into compulsion. Once you've hit a benchmark of 10,000 or 15,000 or 20,000 steps, you may feel compelled to meet, or exceed, it every day or else fall into a shame and anxiety spiral. 'When the Fitbit first came out,' Diaz says, 'I used it for a couple weeks, and I just had to put it away because I couldn't do it anymore. If I didn't hit 10,000 steps in a day, it'd be nine o'clock at night and…I'd be circling my little, tiny living room for 20 minutes just to get my steps to where I need them to be. I'm sitting there, like how is this healthy in any way, shape, or form that I'm obsessing over a number?' Although quantifying an activity increases how often you do it, you start to enjoy it less. Soon, something that previously brought you enjoyment can start to feel like work. Although quantifying an activity (like counting steps or the number of pages read) increases how often you do it, you start to enjoy it less, a 2016 study found. This change can happen within a few days of tracking, the study's author Jordan Etkin, a professor of marketing at Duke University, says. When participants were able to see their results, they would continue the activity. But when they weren't shown their data, they lost the motivation to continue. 'The reasons for doing the activity shift from being because you like it or find some other value in it,' Etkin says, 'to being because it gives you this sense of accomplishment and productivity. When you don't get that anymore, because you're not tracking how many of these things you're doing, it's less valuable to you.' Instead of just moving for movement's sake, perpetual tracking assigns status and morality to basic bodily functions. Hitting a certain step count is 'good' and having a low readiness score is 'bad.' The number acts as a marker of wellness. These days, the ideal embodiment of that wellness has pivoted back toward thinness. No longer is a step just a step or a gram of protein a bit of nourishment — it's all in service of optimization of a skinnier, healthier self. People who track their health want every step to count, to matter, Etkin says. If it isn't being documented, it may as well not have happened. 'That introduces new dynamics into how people decide what and whether and when to do things,' she says, 'based on whether it's going to be recorded.' By no means should you stop walking if it improves your mental and physical health. But if the pressure of hitting a specific target every day causes anxiety or you're unable to forgo walking for a day, you may need to reconsider your relationship with your goals. This is 'because you're obsessing over this outward signal, and it becomes this unhealthy striving for perfectionism,' Diaz says. People can start to ignore their body's cues for rest and push themselves to injury. In order to maintain a more flexible outlook on your goals, Diaz suggests setting a range target — maybe 8,000 to 12,000 steps a day — or weekly benchmarks. If you know you're going to be moving a lot on the weekend, you won't be so fixated on a weekday where your step count is lower. Any wellness lifestyle should be sustainable. If your body and schedule allow for 20,000 steps a day, go for it. If it feels like a chore, you run the risk of burning out. It's worth asking yourself if any of your fitness-related hobbies are still enjoyable or if they inspire stress or obligation, Diaz says. Fitness isn't always fun, but it should, hopefully, relieve anxiety, not cause it.
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
FBI Warns Americans of Fraudulent Health Insurance Emails, Text Messages
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning cautioning Americans about a rising trend of fraudulent emails and text messages in which criminals pose as health insurers or their investigative teams. The report, issued on June 27, warned against messages designed to mimic communications from trusted health authorities, which have targeted patients and health care providers across the U.S. Why It Matters The scams aim to extract sensitive personal and financial information under the guise of insurance matters, such as alleged overpayments or requests about non-covered services. The information can be used to commit fraud, or even blackmail. Thousands of Americans fall prey to medical identity theft scams each year, according to with a large number of victims belonging to older age groups. The FBI issued a warning cautioning Americans about a rising trend of fraudulent health-related emails and text messages. The FBI issued a warning cautioning Americans about a rising trend of fraudulent health-related emails and text messages. Getty Images What To Know According to the FBI, criminals use emails and texts that appear to originate from known health insurers or insurance investigators. The messages pressure recipients to share protected health information, medical records or financial details, frequently under claims of processing refunds or handling service disputes. "These criminals are sending emails and text messages to patients and health care providers, disguising them as legitimate communications from trusted health care authorities," the warning reads. "The messages are designed to pressure victims into disclosing protected health information, medical records, personal financial details, or providing reimbursements for alleged service overpayments or non-covered services." The FBI advised Americans to remain cautious of unsolicited communications requesting personal details, never to click suspicious links, use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, keep device software updated, and confirm any requests directly with their actual insurer before responding. FBI's Advice For Avoiding Scams Be suspicious of unsolicited messages emails, texts and calls requesting personal information. Never click on links that are included in suspicious and/or unsolicited emails. Use strong passwords and enable multi-factor authentication for all accounts. Keep operating system software updated and use antivirus software on all devices. Always contact your health insurance provider directly to verify the legitimacy of any messages before sharing personal or health care information. What People Are Saying Steve Weisman, cybersecurity expert and editor of the Scamicide newsletter, told Newsweek: "Many of these scams target older Americans. It is easy to get lists of the names of older people, who as a group are significant users of medical services and are responsive to offers for discounted medical care. "In addition, research at the University of Iowa found changes in a part of the aging brain that controls belief and doubt thereby making older people less skeptical and therefore more likely to be scammed due to their being more trusting and less skeptical. "Like so many scams, they appeal to fear and needs, offering often a too good to be true solution." What Happens Next Victims of these scams are urged to report incidents to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at Provide details such as the scammer's name, contact information and message contents.
