A mum overcame her phobia of telephones to save a street from what could have been a devastating gas explosion.
Cheryl Campbell has suffered from “telephonophobia” fear of making phone calls for the past two years.
But that changed on Sunday night when the 34-year-old from Rosyth, Fife, smelled gas and noticed her daughter was feeling sick.
Fearing the street could blow up, Cheryl reached for the phone and raised the alarm with gas engineers.
The terrace of six homes was evacuated and cordoned off by firefighters while gas experts traced the leak to a neighbour’s home.
She said: “I get anxious when talking to people on the phone. I get really stressed and nervous. If I have to call, I usually get my mum or someone else to do it.”
Cheryl said she was in the house with her son, Logan, 4, and daughter, Demi, 10, when the drama started to unfold.
“My daughter had gone up to fill the bath after dinner about 6pm and shouted down that the smell was very strong. She started feeling sick and when I went up I started feeling bad. My head was really sore.”
Cheryl realised she had no choice but reach for the dreaded phone.
She was told by an engineer at Scottish Gas Network not to touch any light switches. He added: “I don’t want to panic you but I need you and your kids to evacuate the property now.”
After the leak had been fixed and the houses ventilated, families were allowed back in at about 1am on Monday.
Neighbour Catherine Baxter, 21, said: “If Cheryl hadn’t phoned the gas board, we might not be in our houses today.”