A really sad and difficult choice that parents had to make: they had to decide to turn off life support for their 13-year-old daughter after a terrible incident that happened during a sleepover.

In Australia, Ally Langdon, a mom and TV host, couldn’t hide her sadness when she talked to a mom and dad. They had to make a really hard decision to end the life of their 13-year-old daughter. The girl had fallen victim to a dangerous trend called chroming, and it made Ally, who is also a mom, really emotional.

On a TV show called A Current Affair, Andrea and Paul Haynes shared their heartbreaking story. Their daughter, Esra, passed away because of chroming, a trend on social media where people inhale harmful chemicals to get high.

Esra was described as determined, fun, cheeky, and talented by the Montrose Football Netball Club, where she co-captained. She was a young athlete who raced BMX bikes with her brothers and led her team to a national aerobics championship in Queensland. It’s a really sad story about a young and vibrant girl.

On March 31, Esra went to a friend’s house for a sleepover. But during that time, she did something really dangerous that led to a fatal outcome. She sniffed a can of aerosol deodorant, and it caused her heart to stop, leading to severe brain damage that couldn’t be fixed.

Esra’s mom, Andrea, explained to Ally Langdon in an interview that it was just a regular hangout with friends. Her dad, Paul, added that they always knew where she was and who she was with. It was nothing unusual. But that night, they got a phone call that every parent dreads: “Come and get your daughter.”

Langdon shared that Esra’s friends initially thought she was having a panic attack. But because of inhaling deodorant, her body was actually shutting down, and she was in cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, nobody at the sleepover recognized the signs of cardiac arrest.

When Andrea got to Esra, paramedics were trying to revive her. They told her that her daughter had been chroming, something Andrea had never heard of until that moment. It was a really shocking and heartbreaking experience for the family.

Esra was taken to hospital held onto the hope that their baby girl would recover. After all, her heart and lungs were strong so maybe she would make it through.

After eight days on life support, Paul and Andrea were told that Esra’s brain was damaged “beyond repair and we had to have that decision to turn off the machine.”

Struggling with their words, and reliving their worst day, her parents explained the pain of ending their daughter’s life.

Victorian teen’s chroming death
The shattered siblings of a Year 8 student who died from chroming say their mission is now to save others from the same fate.Don Valley teenager Esra Haynes went into cardiac arrest after inhaling deodorant.#9News | WATCH LIVE 6pm

Posted by 9 News on Wednesday, April 12, 2023

The parents had to make a really tough decision. They asked family and friends to come to the hospital to say their final goodbyes to Esra. Her dad said it was very hard because she was so young. They put her on a bed so they could be close to her, cuddling her until the end.

Ally Langdon, the interviewer and a mom of two, couldn’t hold back her tears. Esra passed away in early April, and her dad, Paul, says the family is completely broken. Esra’s siblings, Imogen, Seth, and Charlie, are also really sad.

Paul explained that it’s been incredibly hard for everyone, not just the family but also the friends and the community. They haven’t been able to sleep or eat well, and they haven’t been happy. It’s like they’re not themselves anymore.

The family had never heard of chroming until it took their daughter’s life. Now, Paul and his wife are determined to make people aware of this dangerous trend. Chroming involves using everyday products like deodorant, paint, hairspray, or even permanent markers to get high, and it’s becoming more popular among teens. They want to make sure that others know about the risks.

Talking to a local news station, Paul mentioned that he wishes he knew about chroming when Esra was alive. He wanted to warn her about the dangers. Paul said, “If we knew about it and people talked about it, we would have definitely discussed it at home.”

He believes it’s important to make sure kids get information directly, not just from friends or social media. He plans to educate parents so they can, in turn, educate their children and hopefully save lives.

Paul stressed that parents need to talk to their kids about these things because they didn’t know what was happening with Esra. Since 2009, chroming has caused the deaths of several children in Australia and around the world. Chroming can lead to serious health problems like seizures, heart attacks, suffocation, sudden sniffing death, coma, and organ failure. Young people might be attracted to it because it gives a quick, but risky, high.

Paul shared with Langdon that they have images in their minds that they can never forget, and it feels like their hearts were torn out when they had to face what happened to Esra.

We cannot imagine how painful it is for a family to make the decision of taking their young child off life support. Our hearts go out to the Haynes family and to all the loved ones that Esra left behind.

Share this story with everyone you know and help parents save the lives of their children by educating them on the dangers of this fatal trend.