The parents of a 13-year-old girl who died say she was recreating a wildly dangerous ‘chrome challenge’ shared among teenagers on social media.
Esra Haynes suffered cardiac arrest after inhaling deodorant fumes during a sleepover in Melbourne’s northeast over the long Easter weekend last year.
Despite the paramedics’ desperate attempts, Esra would die days later in hospital after suffering irreparable brain damage.
This dangerous trend is known as chrome plating and has gained popularity among young Australians.
Esra’s parents, Paul and Andrea, say that their athletic daughter learned about chrome plating through a friend who had seen it on social media.
Both support a social media ban for teenagers, a provision soon to be introduced in South Australia.
The devastated parents of a 13-year-old girl who died recreating a dangerous social media trend, Paul and Andrea Hayes (pictured), have backed a ban on social media for teenagers.
Chrome plating has claimed the lives of children as young as 11 around the world and has caused some supermarkets to keep aerosol deodorants under lock and key.
Although platforms like TikTok restrict access to dangerous or traumatic videos, Hayes said that “all it takes is for a child to see it, share it and spread it.”
He said the government must step in and stop children from interacting with dangerous trends, saying “this must end now.”
“Children today walk a very fine line and the algorithm attacks them and attracts them,” he told Herald of the sun.
‘It’s a really vicious circle. At 13 you are still a child and the decisions you make are not always the right ones.’
The heartbroken father said he didn’t want any parent to go through what he and his family went through with Esra’s death.
He pleaded with state and federal governments to do the right thing and “make the switch to social media and help keep children safe.”
“We don’t want more children to die.”
His daughter, Esra (pictured), suffered cardiac arrest after inhaling the fumes of an aerosol deodorant – called chroming – and died days later from irreparable brain damage.
Mr and Mrs Haynes said she was exposed to the trend by a friend who saw it on social media (pictured, Esra in hospital).
South Australia will become the first Australian state to act on calls to ban social media for teenagers.
Children under 13 will be banned from using Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, while those aged 14 and 15 will need consent from a parent or guardian.
The move has received praise from independent senator Jacqui Lambie, who compared social media addiction to smoking an “ice pipe”.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said the government decided to take drastic action to safeguard the emotional and mental well-being of children. Concerns about harassment and exploitation.