New social media trend of sniffing deo claims life of an Australian teenager

By Ankita ChakravartiYou should not follow every trend that you see on social media blindly. While some of the social media trends can be fun and get you traction on the apps, some can be even life-threatening if caution is not exercised. Recently, a social media trend of sniffing deo, which is an utterly bizarre act, has gone viral in Australia. While you do put deo or perfume to smell good, you do not necessarily inhale it. A girl in Australia, who decided to follow the trend, has lost her life.

The new social media trend is called “chroming” where people sniff deodorant and other harmful chemicals to get a quick high. Sadly, this dangerous trend has caused the death of a young girl from Australia. Her name was Esra Haynes, and she was just 13 years old.

As per Australian publication Herald Sun, Esra was at a sleepover with her friends when she decided to try chroming. She inhaled the chemicals from a deodorant can, but it had devastating consequences. She went into cardiac arrest and suffered severe brain damage that couldn’t be fixed. Despite being on life support for eight days, her parents had to make the difficult decision to let her go.

This tragic incident has shed light on the popularity of chroming among teenagers. Many young people are trying it because it doesn’t involve using hard drugs. However, experts are warning that chroming is extremely dangerous and can cause serious harm, even leading to sudden death.
Different chemicals can have varying effects on the body. They can damage the brain, organs, and bone marrow, and also impair learning, memory, and intelligence. Unfortunately, there’s no way to predict who will be affected and how severe the consequences will be.

Esra is not the first victim of this dangerous trend. Two 16-year-old boys have died from chroming since 2019, and another girl suffered brain damage. It’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

Esra’s parents believe that social media played a role in her learning about chroming. They are calling for stricter restrictions to prevent children from accessing such adult content. In the past, social media has seen other dangerous trends like the ice bucket challenge, choking game, and blue whale challenge. These trends reward outrageous behavior, and teenagers feel pressured to participate because they don’t want to miss out.
Esra’s father, Paul Haynes, wants to prevent other children from falling into the same trap. He sees it as his mission to raise awareness about the dangers of chroming. Social media platforms need to take responsibility and protect young users from harmful content.

“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,
Paul Haynes, the girl’s father, told Australian outlet the Herald Sun.