‘Chroming’ is a risky practice that includes inhaling fumes from an aerosol can, such as one carrying deodorant.

This is the message that the parents of Esra Haynes, a 13-year-old Australian girl who died after ‘chroming,’ want everyone to hear.

Esra passed away on March 31, this year, after ‘chroming’ during a sleepover. The 13-year-old, a Year 8 student at Melbourne’s Lilydale High School, experienced cardiac arrest and irreversible brain damage.

Her parents told A Current Affair that they had no idea what was about to happen.

Andrea, Esra’s mother, explained, “It was just the regular routine of going to hang out with her mates.”

“We always knew where she was and who she was with,” her father, Paul, continued.

“There was nothing unusual about it.

“To receive this phone call at that time of night, [it] was one of those calls that no parent ever wants to receive, and we regrettably received that call: ‘Come and collect your daughter.’

“We’ve got the pictures in our minds that will never be erased, you know, of what we were confronted with.”

The sight of paramedics battling to rescue Esra met her parents, and they informed her mother that she had participated in the risky trend.

She was then transported to the hospital, where she was placed on life support.

Esra’s parents made the terrible choice to cut off the machines eight days later, with her brain ‘broken beyond repair’.

“They’re asking us to bring family and friends to say goodbye to our 13-year-old daughter,” Paul continued.

“It was a very, very difficult thing to do to such a young soul.”

Esra’s elder siblings, Imogen, Seth, and Charlie, who ‘cuddled her to the end,’ were devastated.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time something like this has happened.

A 16-year-old boy died from aerosol inhalation in New South Wales in 2019.

Then, in 2021, a Queensland girl suffered from chroming, which caused brain damage.

Because of rising theft and worries about what they are being used for, several stores have been obliged to lock up deodorant cans.

Schools and regional education authorities, as well as medical specialists, are attempting to educate children about the hazards of chroming.

However, Paul and Andrea believe that changing the composition of deodorant and providing CPR instruction in all schools is not enough.

“For me, it’s a pistol sitting on the shelf,” he added.

“We need the manufacturers to step up and really change the formulation or the propellants.”

He also said that social media should be more strictly watched because that is when Esra learned about the trend.

More significantly, they want to convey the repercussions of chroming’ with families and children.

“Kids don’t think beyond the next day; they really don’t,” Paul added. And, more importantly, not knowing how it will affect them.

“Esra would never have done this if she had known the consequences.”

“But the ripple effect is that this is absolutely devastating,” his wife continued.

“We’ve got no child to bring home or anything.”

“We need to talk about it,” Paul concluded.

“Her name means helper, so that’s what we’re here to do.”