Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington died last month taking part in so-called chroming while Teigan Solomab was taken to hospital (Pictures: Facebook/Kennedy New and Media)
A mother who feared her daughter would die after trying the ‘chroming’ social media challenge has issued a plea to parents and guardians.
Chroming, also known as huffing or sniffing, involves inhaling dangerous chemicals and substances like aerosol deodorant, petrol or laughing gas.
Experts say breathing in these inhalants can cause dizziness, vomiting, cardiac arrest and brain damage.
The trend, which has vastly expanded from its original definition of sniffing chrome-based products, has taken off among young people on TikTok in recent years.
Mikayla Solomon says her daughter, Teigan, and her friend grabbed up to six cans of deodorant from her home and two neighbours’ houses in Kent to take part.
Mikayla, 37, said her daughter had inhaled the cans during a sleepover ‘for a laugh’ in a night that ended with the 12-year-old in A&E.
Mikayla Solomon feared her daughter, Teigan, was going to die (Picture: KennedyNews/MikaylaSolomon)
The mum-of-two said: ‘She apologised and said she just wanted to do it to make her laugh and didn’t really think about the consequences.
‘She thought it would just make her and her friend laugh. She said her heart was doing palpitations.’
Mikayla took Teigan to Medway Maritime Hospital where he underwent multiple tests before doctors gave her the all-clear to leave.
But the mother says Teigan was vomiting for 12 days and has experienced diarrhoea.
‘She said she felt like everything was in slow motion and delayed. I didn’t really know what to think – I didn’t know if she was making it up,’ Mikayla said.
‘I told her she could’ve died,’ she said, adding: ‘I just feel so grateful it wasn’t worse. She could’ve easily gone into cardiac arrest.
Tommie-lee, who died taking part in the challenge, with his father Graham Billington (Picture: Facebook)
‘I could’ve easily lost my daughter that day.’
Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington, 11, was found dead in a friend’s Lancaster house in March having suffered a suspected cardiac arrest.
His grandmother, Tina, said the youngster died after ‘inhaling toxic substances’ and had been taking part in chroming – a coroner confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances.
According to a 2017 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 684,000 teenagers aged between 12 and 17 have inhaled toxic substances.
Inhalants youngsters reach out for tend to be common household products that produce chemical vapours, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
These toxic chemicals wriggle their way into children’s bloodstream, acting as an expressway to other organs that can lead to damage. Among the long-term effects, a study found chroming impacts memory and IQ.
Mikayla says social media giants need to crack down on the trend and parents need to know the risks that come with chroming.
‘If you think your child has done this, get them checked,’ she added, ‘it can cause long-term damage.’
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