Partner of man who died in Legal Sea Foods CO leak on Long Island fights for safety law

HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. (WABC) -- Just weeks before he died, Steve Nelson went to Israel -- his dream vacation. His partner, John Largan, said not only did they have a wonderful time but Nelson started to feel like his healthy self again.

"Around Christmas, New Year's Eve, he had started to complain about headaches," said Largan. "Then, as the weeks went by, he began to develop a rash all on the insides of his arms, his belly and the back of his legs."

But after a week out of work, by the eighth day, the rash was only on his ankles.

The day Nelson returned from his trip and went back to work as the general manager at Legal Sea Foods, he came home so ill they went to the emergency room where doctors told him he may have a blood disorder.

Largan said the next few days when Nelson returned from work were torturous. "I found him kneeling at the bed saying, 'I feel like I'm dying.' I said, 'come on, let's go back to the emergency room.' He said, 'no, what are they going to do for me?'"

A few days later Nelson was dead -- overcome with carbon monoxide fumes in the basement of the restaurant because of a faulty pipe in a water heater.

"I still think he's going to pull around the corner. It's terrible living without this person in my life," said Largan.

But he said that along with Nelson's family, he is turning sadness into determination. They're working with legislators to get a national law passed requiring CO detectors in all public buildings.

"This could have been your father, your brother, your son," said Largan. "It could have been any one of us. It's important that a law is enacted to protect us against it. It's a silent killer."