Esra Haynes, a vibrant teenager, passed away after participating in a practice known as ‘chroming’ during a sleepover with friends. The incident, which happened in 2023, has left her family heartbroken and searching for answers.
Esra’s parents are now calling for stricter regulations on social media platforms, which they believe played a significant role in exposing their daughter to the trend.
Esra, a student at Lilydale High School in Melbourne, went into cardiac arrest during a sleepover at her friend’s house. When she was rushed to the hospital, her parents were informed that the damage to her brain was irreversible.
The incident occurred in March 2023. Since then, Esra’s parents, Paul and Andrea Haynes, have spoken out about the urgent need for changes in the way social media and manufacturers address these dangerous behaviors.
He added: “We need the manufacturers to step up and really change the formulation or the propellants.”
Paul also emphasized that social media platforms must take greater responsibility, as he believes this is where Esra first learned about chroming.
Paul stated: “Kids don’t look beyond the next day, they really don’t. And especially not knowing how it can affect them.”
Andrea added: “Esra would never have done this if she would have known the consequences.”
Paul added, with deep sorrow: “We’ve got no child to bring home or anything.”
Reflecting on the bigger picture, Paul also shared: “We need to talk about it.”
She recalled the moment they realized something was wrong, saying: “It was just the regular routine of going to hang out with her mates.”
Paul added his own perspective: “We always knew where she was and we knew who she was with.”
Andrea recounted the devastating phone call they received that night: “To get this phone call at that time of night, [it] was one of the calls no parent ever wants to have to receive and we unfortunately got that call: ‘Come and get your daughter’.”
The traumatic memory still haunts them, as Andrea said: “We’ve got the pictures in our mind which will never be erased, you know, of what we were confronted with.”
Chroming has become alarmingly popular among teenagers, many of whom are unaware of the severe and immediate dangers it poses. For Esra, the consequences were devastating.
She was rushed to the hospital in an unresponsive state and placed on life support. Despite the efforts of medical professionals, her condition did not improve.
Paul reflected on the difficulty of this decision, saying: “They’re asking us to bring family, friends to say goodbye to our 13-year-old daughter.”
Andrea added, speaking through tears: “It was a very, very difficult thing to do to such a young soul.”
Unfortunately, Esra’s story is not an isolated incident. In 2019, a 16-year-old boy from New South Wales also lost his life due to aerosol inhalation. Such tragedies continue to highlight the dangers of these reckless trends.
Schools and local education departments are also stepping in, working to educate children about the risks of chroming. Meanwhile, medical professionals continue to stress the urgency of addressing this growing issue.
