This day and age of social media can be a dangerous thing for children and teens, especially when it comes to trends. One Australian family is speaking out after their 13-year-old daughter died from a trend called "chroming." They hope sharing her story will prevent similar tragedies from occurring.
It was just any other ordinary day for Esra Haynes, who went to hang out with some friends overnight. But things took an unexpected drastic turn that her family was never prepared for.
While at the sleepover, Esra took part in a popular social media trend called "chroming." According to the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, chroming is the inhalation of toxic substances as recreational drugs. This can result in a short-term “high,” but the dangerous part is that it slows down brain activity in the central nervous system.
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The trend is popular among Gen Z. Toxic chemicals that are often inhaled include aerosol cans, paint, nail polish remover, deodorants, and cleaning products, to name a few.
Lighter side effects of chroming include slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, euphoria, nausea, vomiting, and disorientation. But it can also result in a heart attack, seizures, suffocation, coma, and choking, and it can cause permanent damage to the brain, heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. In the worst cases, it can lead to death.
When Esra tried the trend, she went into cardiac arrest and sustained irreparable brain damage. She was placed on life support, but after eight days and learning that her brain damage was beyond repair, her family took her off the machines.
She died surrounded by her heartbroken family.
“We’ve got the pictures in our mind which will never be erased, you know, of what we were confronted with,” Esra's mom, Andrea, shared.
During an interview, her father, Paul, shared a warning for other parents.
"It's been the most difficult, traumatic time any parent can go through," he said. "They need to sit and have a chat to their children and see and just open that conversation gently with them."
"The education's not out there and this has just been going on too long," he added. The family is continuing to share Esra's story to bring awareness to the dangers of chroming. “We need to talk about it,” her father said. “Her name meant ‘helper’ so that’s what we’re here to do.”
