'I basically put myself in a death chamber,' Elgin man says, thanking his 'angels'

Jack Yucuis remembers nothing of inhaling a nearly fatal dose of carbon monoxide from a charcoal grill, but knows exactly who to thank for being able to tell his story.

"My wife saved my life and so did JoBeth," he said, referring to JoBeth Robison, a 911 operator in Elgin. "To me, they are both angels. God put them in my path to save my life."

The near-tragedy happened the evening of Nov. 30, when Yucuis, 59, cooked hot link sausages on the grill outside and planned to watch the movie "Full Metal Jacket" on TV in his screened-in back porch. The porch was sealed with plastic, like it is every fall. Yucuis turned on an electric space heater, then figured he'd bring the grill inside to warm up the place more quickly with the hot coals.

"I had no idea that the charcoal grill can produce carbon monoxide, and with having everything sealed off, I basically put myself in a death chamber," he said. "Carbon monoxide simply put me to sleep and proceed to try to kill me."

Fortunately, his wife Jacquie heard a strange noise and checked in on him. When she couldn't wake him up, she quickly - and instinctively - dragged the grill outside while calling 911.

Robison answered. "She had a very, very calm voice," Yucuis said, "and walked my wife through what to do to start CPR on me as they dispatched the EMTs."

His wife managed to get him on the floor and on his back to start compressions before help arrived shortly after. Yucuis said medical personnel later told him they were surprised he survived, his carbon monoxide count was so high.

Robison, 31, who's worked at the Elgin Police Department for a little over two years, got a lifesaving award Thursday for her actions.

She's instructed people on CPR via phone "well over two handfuls of times," she said, but she's always keenly aware of not being physically present.

"I know I'm at a disadvantage. I don't see what they can see," she said. "In terms of the instructions, I'm confident with that. Everybody says that I sound calm ... I feel like I am not that calm, but the goal is that the person can really hear me and that the person gives good compressions."

Yucuis first was taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, then to Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge, where he was treated in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. He was released two days later and got home in time to watch the Bears game, he said.

Later that week, Yucuis and his wife - who was quite shaken by the event and doesn't want to speak about it publicly, he said - met Robison in person. "It meant an awful lot to both of us that she was there," Yucuis said.

Yucuis said he's telling his story only because he hopes it will help others.

"There are a lot of people that would say, 'Jack, you were foolish. Anything that burns produces carbon monoxide. How could you not know?'" he said. "But roughly half the people I shared my story with had no idea that a charcoal grill produces carbon monoxide. My whole goal is to bring awareness."

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