The devastated family of a 13-year-old Melbourne girl who died after inhaling dangerous chemicals has called for action to avoid more deaths like hers. According to News.com.au, Esra Haynes was at a sleepover on March 31, 2023, when she inhaled aerosol deodorant in a popular social media trend called 'chroming'. Soon, she went into cardiac arrest and sustained irreparable brain damage.
The teenager spent eight days on life support after suffering a cardiac arrest, following which the family decided to turn off the machines.
''She then spent about 1.5 weeks in hospital fighting for her life, her lungs and her heart were strong but her brain just didn't recover. We, unfortunately, had to say goodbye to her,'' her sister said.
After her death, her parents Paul and Andrea Haynes have been on a mission to raise awareness for children who participate in such dangerous trends. They are now urging children and teens to not make the same mistake as their daughter, saying they had no idea what 'chroming' was until they got the call to say their daughter was being taken to hospital.
"We want to help other children not fall into the silly trap of doing this silly thing. It's unquestionable that this will be our crusade. No matter how much you lead a horse to water, anyone can drag them away. It's not something she would have done on her own," Mr Haynes told the Herald Sun.
They are also calling for CPR to be a mandatory lesson in all schools as well as for deodorant formulas to be made safer.
Last month, her sister, Imogen, told 7News, ''We don't want that to happen to anyone else. We don't want another family to go through this, it's absolutely horrible.”
According to 7News.com.au, chroming, also called huffing, involves inhaling metallic paints, solvents, petrol, aerosol cans, and other similar household chemicals which act as depressants. Such inhalants affect the central nervous system and slow down brain activity, resulting in a short-term “high.”
The American Addiction Centres says chroming is more prevalent among younger people without access to other drugs.
