The family of an Australian teenager who died earlier this year after inhaling dangerous chemicals have opened up about their immeasurable loss.
Melbourne resident Esra Haynes, 13, passed away in March 2023 after suffering a cardiac arrest while enjoying a sleepover with friends.
The late teenager had been 'chroming' at the get-together - a term now used to describe the trend of inhaling toxic chemicals to receive a temporary 'high'.
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It has since become a trend on TikTok where videos are posted and tagged with 'WhipTok', which is a slang term for nitrous oxide.
Esra was rushed to hospital after falling ill, where she spent a week and a half before tragically dying.
Now, her family are attempting to raise awareness of the potentially life-threatening trend, so that no other families have to endure the agony of losing a child.
"We definitely have a mission to raise awareness for kids and anyone that does it,” Esra's sister, Imogen, told 9News.
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"We don’t want that to happen to anyone else. We don’t want another family to go through this, it’s absolutely horrible."
Brother Seth added: "I just want to put awareness out there that it can happen very quickly, and we don’t want to lose any more amazing people."
The term 'chroming' first came from people sniffing chrome-based paint to get high but has since expanded to mean sniffing a wider range of toxic substances.
The act of inhaling the toxic chemicals can slow down messages being sent between the body and the brain, and can therefore give the user a temporary high.
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In some cases, however - Esra's included - chroming can trigger an irregular heart beat, as well as severe chest pains.
Long term abuse can also lead to organ damage.
Esra's family said she was 'the most beautiful soul' and her death had been 'one of the hardest weeks and a half of our lives'.
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Imogen said: "[Esra] was just at her friend’s house, it was a normal night.
"She became unconscious after inhaling the aerosol can and went into cardiac arrest.
"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."
Speaking to A Current Affair, Esra's parents have called for deodorant formula to be changed to be safer, as well as CPR training to be given in all schools.
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“For me it’s a pistol sitting on the shelf,” dad Paul said.
“We need the manufacturers to step up and really change the formulation or the propellants.”
He continued: “Kids don’t look beyond the next day, they really don’t. And especially not knowing how it can affect them.
“Esra would never have done this if she would have known the consequences.”
Esra's mum, Andrea, added: “But the ripple effect is that this is absolutely devastating.
“We’ve got no child to bring home or anything.”
Paul concluded: “We need to talk about it.
“Her name meant helper so that’s what we’re here to do.”
Featured Image Credit: A Current Affair/9 NewsTopics: Health, Parenting, Social media, TikTok, Australia