The heartbroken parents of a 13-year-old girl who tragically died in a "chroming" incident have spoken out about their loss.
On March 31, Esra Haynes from Melbourne, Australia took part in the viral trend called "chroming" - which is a dangerous - and sometimes even deadly - craze, particularly among teenagers, where chemicals in aerosol cans are inhaled for a temporary high.
Esra inhaled from an aerosol deodorant can, went into cardiac arrest, and sustained irreparable brain damage after the incident, which occurred at a friend’s sleepover, as reported by News.com.au.
The young girl's parents, Paul and Andrea, were absolutely blindsided by the devastating death of their daughter, who was a Year 8 student at Lilydale High School.
Watch Esra's parents' interview with A Current Affair:Speaking to A Current Affair, Esra's mom said: "It was just the regular routine of going to hang out with her mates," to which her dad added: "We always knew where she was and we knew who she was with. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
"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,'" he continued. "We’ve got the pictures in our mind which will never be erased, you know, of what we were confronted with."
Paramedics were working to revive the "beautiful" Esra at the scene before she was rushed to the hospital in an unresponsive state and placed on life support.
About eight days later, doctors revealed to her family that the teen's brain "was damaged beyond repair," so they had to decide whether to turn off the machines.
"They’re asking us to bring family [and] friends to say goodbye to our 13-year-old daughter," Paul told host Ally Langdon during the interview. "It was a very, very difficult thing to do to such a young soul."
Esra's parents and older siblings Imogen, Seth, and Charlie "cuddled her until the end".
The parents are now calling for more action and widespread change to stop another family from experiencing the same tragic loss.
They want every child to learn CPR at all schools, aerosol manufacturers to switch deodorant formulas so they are safer, and first aid skills to be refreshed every two years.
"For me, it’s a pistol sitting on the shelf," Paul said of the deodorant cans. "We need the manufacturers to step up and really change the formulation or the propellants."
He also said that there needs to be tighter security about the subject on social media - which he believes is how his daughter learned about chroming - so that they can "lockdown on the loopholes" that children slip through to get access to "adult content".
Despite their heartbreak, the Haynes family stated that they are determined to carry on their daughter’s name and spread awareness about her death.
"We need to talk about it," Paul said. "Her name meant helper so that’s what we’re here to do."
Our thoughts are with Esra's family and friends at this time.
