WAKING up at 4am, Roland Wessling knew immediately that something was wrong.
He and his long-term partner, Hazel Woodhams, 30, were camping on the Broads, near Great Yarmouth, when tragedy struck.
Roland had awoken with a pounding headache, his brain was foggy, and pain ripped through his body.
He was lying halfway out of the sleeping section of his with no memory of getting there, and as his eyes adjusted to the morning light, his fear grew.
He says: “I could barely move, but I instinctively turned to where Hazel was sleeping.
“I dragged myself over to her, and my whole world fell apart.
“I knew immediately that my beautiful, amazing partner was dead.”
It was the 5th of July 2011, and now, after marking the 14th anniversary of her death, Roland now wants to warn others of the silent killer that took Hazel’s life.
Forensic archaeology lecturer Roland, now 54, lives in , East , says: “Hazel died from in a tent.
“The lethal fumes had come from a small BBQ that had been cold to the touch before we went to bed.
“My job now is to save other people’s lives who, like Hazel and I, enjoyed camping and BBQs.”
The couple met in 2005, when Hazel, then 25, was working for West Yorks Police Force as a and attended a workshop Roland was giving on mass grave investigations, his speciality.
The pair started dating in 2005 and soon moved in together.
He says: “We both loved kayaking and would spend weekends combining camping, the sport and visiting historic sites everywhere from Scotland to .”
The pair had been kayaking on the Broadlands canals and relaxing after a hectic week in July 2011.
Rolland recalls: “We bought some sausages from a village butcher and some local cider and headed to the campsite for dinner.
The couple had a four-person tent with two zip-up pods inside. The night before, a small bird had gotten in, so that evening the pair made sure any tiny holes were covered before starting the BBQ outside.
Roland says: “We had a little bucket-style coal BBQ. I lit the coals, and by 6pm the grill was hot enough.
“Hazel poured the cider while I cooked the sausages and jacket potatoes in the embers.”
“It was a lovely evening. We were both knackered from kayaking but having a lovely time enjoying a camp-cooked meal and the warm breeze.”
By 9pm, the couple decided to call it a night, especially because the weather had turned and possible overnight rain was forecast.
Roland says: “I was going to leave the BBQ outside, but with rain possible we didn’t want a mucky mess of ash and gunk in the morning.
“The bucket and the ashes were cold to the touch.
“We simply popped it inside the tent, zipped the main door up and went to our sleeping pod.”
Roland zipped up the entrance, and the couple chatted about their plans for more sightseeing in the morning before falling asleep.
“The next thing I knew, I woke up halfway out the now unzipped pod door in agony, and Hazel, who’d celebrated her 30th birthday a few weeks earlier, was dead,” he says.
After discovering Hazel’s lifeless body, Roland dragged himself to the tent’s entrance and screamed for help.
He says: “There were barely any campers on the site. It felt like hours before someone came.”
An off-duty police officer was camping nearby and, alerted by Roland’s screams, took control.
He added: “He called the police and within an hour I was in the back of an ambulance on oxygen being assessed and Hazel’s body was being taken to the same hospital as me.
“To the police, it must have seemed like I was on drugs, as I was totally incoherent.
“There was no obvious reason a healthy woman would be dead, and they made the assumption drugs had been involved.”
Roland was arrested on suspicion of murder, although he was de-arrested just hours later when details of how she died emerged.
“Just hearing a police officer make the allegations broke me,” he said.
“Nothing made sense. I had no explanation and was in dire need of hospital treatment.”
At James Paget University Hospital inGreat Yarmouth, Roland was rushed to the ER.
Blood was taken from him and Hazel’s body, and it showed both had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.
I’d lost my beloved partner. There were times I wanted to die
Roland Wessling
The pain Roland had felt when he woke up was compartment syndrome, caused when surgeons suspected he had fallen on his side trying to get up in the early stages of carbon monoxide poisoning.
He says: “I needed emergency surgery because the pressure of lying on my right arm meant pressure built up in a closed muscle compartment of the limb, cutting off blood flow and damaging nerves and muscle.
“The carbon monoxide poisoning meant the lack of oxygen was causing even faster muscle tissue death than normal.
“My damaged muscle was also swelling and leaking proteins into my blood, and had already begun harming my kidneys. Without intervention, every organ in his body would have broken down.”
Roland underwent a fasciotomy, which means long, deep incisions are made in the skin and underlying fascia, the tough connective tissue around muscle compartments, are exposed.
This stops the dangerous pressure building up inside the muscle compartment and restores blood, and helps stop the nerve and muscle damage.
Roland spent a total of four weeks in intensive care and hospital and was told his arm would have to be amputated if the procedure and antibiotics to prevent infection didn’t work.
But he says that his only thoughts were with Hazel.
He says: “I was in physical agony in ICU, but the grief and mental agony of Hazel’s death and not understanding what happened was worse.
“I’d lost my beloved partner. There were times I wanted to die.”
After cops were told of the carbon monoxide blood results, he was de-arrested and no further police action was taken against him.
“Even today, the thought I was even considered a suspect in such a brutal crime is triggering,” Roland admits.
At the inquest into Hazel’s tragic passing, a verdict of accidental death by carbon monoxide was returned.
He says: “Carbon monoxide poisoning is something you associate with a leaking boiler, tightly enclosed spaces, and leaking gas.
“It’s something you think would not happen in a tent in the middle of a nature reserve.”
However, he soon discovered the source of the deadly gas, which had no smell or taste, was the cold BBQ the pair had brought into the tent.
Roland adds: What we didn’t know was that underneath the top layer of cold ashes, the ash is still hot and can be up to 300 degrees.
“That means the ashes are still releasing the deadly gas.
“Because we had been so cautious to keep the birds out, it meant that gas was getting trapped in the tent and building up to lethal levels.
“Hazel was poisoned in her sleep, and I likely survived because I was slightly taller and heavier.
“As part of my intensive care hospital treatment, I also underwent oxygen replacement therapy to reverse the effects of the carbon monoxide as well as the surgery.”
The ashes in a BBQ - even once it has been extinguished - can release extremely high levels of the gas, as in Roland and Hazel’s cases.
In a tent, carbon monoxide quickly replaces almost all of the oxygen. Victims are suffocated, and organs are starved of the oxygen they need.
He says: “Doctors explained the brain is particularly vulnerable and can be suffocated in as little as four minutes.
“If you survive like me, the effects worsen over the coming days and weeks, even with treatment.
“My symptoms included. difficulty with concentration, hearing and vision, and mood effects including anxiety and depression.”
Roland admits that while he is lucky to survive, his grieving process for Hazel’s death was almost impossible to get through.
However, he was able to find an outlet for his grief.
“As a scientist, I knew Hazel would want me to find out how to help other people and what happened,” he says.
Roland was invited to share his story at a stakeholders’ forum as part of the ‘All Party Committee on Carbon Monoxide Safety’ at the Houses of Parliament in London.
He says: “I applied for funding for a PHD student to research the dangers of charcoal-related issues like those which caused Hazel’s passing.
As a scientist I knew Hazel would want me to find out how to help other people and what happened
Roland Wessling
The funding was granted by the CO Research Trust charity, which aims to improve gas safety, and Roland is now a trustee.
Roland has also set up the Carbon Monoxide Science and Technology Sub-Group, which brings together experts to share research and produce ways to help people all over Britain stay safe.
According to government statistics in 2023, there were thirty accidental deaths due to CO poisoning.
Between 2015 and 2020, between 25 to 40 people passed away annually from accidentally breathing the deadly fumes.
“I never thought a cold BBQ could kill, but it did and I want others to realise this too,” he says.
Now Roland is begging all campers to buy a small portable carbon monoxide alarm for use in caravans, vans, and tents.
He warns: “They cost as little as a tenner and could save your life.
“I know if we’d have had one, Hazel would not have died, and that haunts me daily.”
Roland explains that people in vans or canal boats often have wood burners, and in winter, if they close the doors and there isn’t sufficient ventilation, that is the same risk of death or injury.
“The rise of van lifers and people using wood stoves and heaters makes me even more determined to share my story,” he says.
“When you’re camping, you relax, you don’t think about carbon monoxide alarms.
“I’m begging you to make it part of your camping kit.
“The alternative is terrifying.”
Roland continues to work with government safety committees. He has since remarried, and lives in Brighton with his wife, a 49-year-old artist.
“She helped me recover and grieve Hazel’s loss and totally supports my campaign,” he says.
“Please stay safe this coming summer season.
“Your life is worth spending a tenner on an alarm and protecting the people you love.”
