Oprah's Top 20 Moments

Carbon Monoxide Nightmare (2004)

One morning last summer, a man in a hurry to get to work after his car wouldn't start used cables to jump-start his engine alongside a second car in his garage. A few hours passed before he began to wonder why his wife hadn't made her usual midday call. That evening he came home to a heartbreaking scene: He'd inadvertently left the other car running in the garage. The running car had filled the house with deadly fumes that claimed the lives of his beloved wife and their two dogs.

The day that man sat across from me on the show, his pain was palpable. I knew viewers around the world would be able to sense his agony right through their television sets. There's only one reason to air a show like that: so that those watching can respond to the nudge they've been feeling to finally install a carbon monoxide detector. I believe the universe speaks to us in whispers—little reminders that can actually save lives.