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More than a month after carbon monoxide poisoning took their son Henry from them, Marina Hills and Sergio Losco are still trying to put the pieces back together.
“He was happy and he was healthy and he still had so much life to live,” Marina said in an interview Thursday, “and you know all those things that you look forward to, teaching them how to drive a car and graduation and their first girlfriend and their first dance and … it’s gone. It’s all over now.
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“I was very proud of my son. I am very proud of my son. I considered myself to be a good mother and now I don’t have anyone to mother.”
Henry Losco, 11, died Dec. 19 when carbon monoxide leaked into their apartment at Albert Street and 11th Avenue in downtown Regina. His father, Sergio, was left very ill by the same leak and was treated in hospital.
The family had just moved to Regina from Newfoundland two weeks earlier. Around noon Dec. 19, Marina left for work but left behind her personal phone to help get the unit’s internet hooked up.
“I started calling at about 20 minutes past three, and there was no answer. I called twice, and I thought that was strange, because I always get a call back if my call isn’t answered, and Sergio didn’t call back. So I just had a funny feeling,” she remembers.
“But being at a new job and needing to be there and learn everything I need to learn, I kind of put it out of my head.”
After trying three more times to reach them, she left work around 7:45 that evening. She recalls being surprised that no one was at the door to greet her when she got home.
“My son has boundless energy. He’s got so much energy, he could never just quite stand still. And Sergio always takes my work bag. And nobody was there, and the apartment was quiet.”
It was Sergio who she found first, on the kitchen floor struggling to breathe. Henry was in his bed, face down, unresponsive.
The events that followed, Marina doesn’t clearly remember. But she was able to get Henry into the hallway and a neighbour took over performing CPR on him while Marina went back in and dragged Sergio into the hall as well.
With Sergio breathing, Marina and the neighbour continued with CPR on Henry until EMS arrived.
Marina Hills and Sergio Losco say they hope to honour the memory of their son Henry by raising awareness of carbon monoxide (Geoff Smith/980 CJME)
Keeping Henry’s memory alive through awareness
Marina says she relives that horrible night – even when her eyes are closed.
“What happened to me that night has truly and deeply affected me in a way that I don’t have words to describe,” she said, as she and Sergio sat in the living room of their new apartment.
Sergio said he is feeling better physically, following treatment in Regina and Edmonton. Marina remains on a leave of absence from her job.
“I guess as a way to keep me going and not just sit in a dark room and cry, I have started carbon monoxide awareness,” Marina said, “because if I could save, or Henry could save, another child’s life or another family, then he would have done something good.
“We’ve decided to talk to the media because we want to share this story so no other family goes through this. Carbon monoxide is silent, it’s deadly, and we implore everyone to check your alarms regularly, to test them and to replace the batteries.”
Shortly before the interview, Marina and Sergio had been visited by the fire chief and fire marshal.
“They have ensured us that they are taking this very seriously,” Marina said. “And we appreciate that very much, and we appreciate that they took the time to come here and to let us know.”
At a news conference the following day, Fire Chief Layne Jackson told reporters the investigation at the scene had concluded, with a finding that the carbon monoxide leak was unintentional.
A boiler was found as the cause. Jackson said it failed and released a “substantial” amount of carbon monoxide into some suites. He added the building was quickly ventilated and is now safe.
The investigation is continuing, with the involvement of Regina police and the Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan.
“We want answers,” Marina said, “but we are patient and we are willing to wait for them.”
Remembering Henry
Sergio explains the family moved to Canada from Italy in 2020 to give Henry the best education possible.
“We always tried to find a better opportunity for him in our travels around Canada,” he said. “We’d always just get him open to the world and to knowledge. And he was such a sponge. He would always learn everything, and he will always have questions.
“He was just an amazing kid and the void that he has left, it’s just unbelievable.”
Among the things Henry loved were soccer, playing the trumpet, and chess.
“He started playing chess at a very young age. It was only a couple months after he started playing that I could no longer beat him anymore, or his dad,” Marina said.
It was soccer that forged a connection between Henry and his best friend in Newfoundland, Misha.
“At times they played on rivalry soccer teams, soccer clubs. So it was, it was nice to see the competitiveness between them, but it was also nice to see Henry have such a wonderful friend,” she said.
“They would play for hours online. They would play Brawl Stars. And Sergio and I used to say it was like having another another child, because we heard Misha for hours and hours almost every day.”
As they continue to grieve their son, Marina and Sergio are keeping Misha in their thoughts as well. Marina was preparing a care package for him, with the Christmas gifts they had bought for Henry.
“They’ve been friends since they first met. It was instant in grade four, so I’m sure that he’ll appreciate the things that we were supposed to give Henry.”
Denied a Christmas and a future with Henry, there will just be the memories of a son who had, as Marina puts it, “so much life left to live.”
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