An Indiana family is sharing a story that is both tragic and miraculous after they lost one family member and nearly lost another to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Alex Shoppa, 15, remembers the last picture she took with her grandmother, whom she referred to as "Maw Maw."
“That was the day we went out to eat and then the accident happened,” she said.
In June 2023, the Shoppas took their yearly trip to visit Missy Malone in Alexandria, a suburb near New Orleans.
Hours later, Alex and Maw Maw were found in her home suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and tasteless but dangerous gas.
Alex was breathing when she was found, but her grandmother had passed away.
“When I pulled up in the drive, I could see Maw Maw’s sister, Laurel, kneeling on the deck over [the] top of someone, and I saw a Case, which would be Alex's cousin at about the same age,” said Mike Shoppa, Alex’s dad. “He had just carried Alex out onto the deck, and Laurel had a wet washcloth and a bottle of water, and she was trying to rub her head to kind of get her to come to, and Alex, she was out. … Once I could hear the sirens, that's when I told her, Alex, I'm like just stay with me. Stay with me.”
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The Marquette Catholic High School junior was airlifted from a regional hospital to one in New Orleans, where she was given oxygen treatments in a hyperbaric chamber.
Despite the treatment, things were not looking good for Alex. Her parents prayed and asked others to also pray for their daughter.
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“They told me her kidneys had failed, that she would be on dialysis,” April Shoppa, Alex’s mom, said. “But we prayed and prayed.”
Doctors told them Alex would need to be in the hospital for four to six weeks, but she defied the odds, leaving the facility in just 72 hours.
“I walked in that morning, and the nurse goes …. I think you all might be going to a regular room tonight. And sure enough, later that day we transferred into a regular room. All her vitals were good, all her everything started coming back,” her father said.
Last week, Alex had her last MRI at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago and was given the all-clear.
“I never have to go back ,” she said. “It feels good.”
“There was no scarring,” her dad added. “All good and she is just as healthy as any other 16-year-old girl.”
Despite Alex's health, the Shoppas are still mourning what they lost on that fateful June day.
But they said they also gained something that they’re sharing with others, an amazing story of survival and the importance of carbon monoxide monitors.
Alex and her parents now never leave home without a portable carbon monoxide monitor, taking it with them everywhere from sleepovers to vacation
“Would you rather spend $15, or either lose a loved one or go through the experience I had to go through?” asked Alex.
