“Parents Make Heart-Wrenching Decision to Say Goodbye to Daughter Following Sleepover Nightmare”

Australia’s Ally Langdon struggled to contain her sorrow as she spoke with heartbroken parents who were faced with the unimaginable agony of making the decision to end the life of their precious daughter, just 13 years after they brought her into the world.

The young girl tragically lost her life after succumbing to a dangerous viral trend known as chroming, leaving Langdon, a mother herself, fighting back tears as she shared the heart-wrenching story.

On A Current Affair, Andrea and Paul Haynes bravely shared their heartbreaking story with host Ally Langdon, revealing how their 13-year-old daughter, Esra Haynes, tragically lost her life after falling victim to a dangerous social media trend called chroming. This alarming practice involves inhaling toxic chemicals through the mouth or nose to get high.

Described as “determined, fun, cheeky, and talented” by the Montrose Football Netball Club, which she co-captained, Esra was a vibrant young athlete. She raced BMX bikes alongside her brothers and even led her team to a national aerobics championship in Queensland.

On March 31, Esra attended a friend’s sleepover, where, in search of a dangerous high, she inhaled a can of aerosol deodorant. Tragically, this led to her going into cardiac arrest, resulting in devastating brain damage that could not be reversed.

“It was just the usual routine of hanging out with her friends,” Esra’s mother, Andrea, told Langdon during the emotional interview.

Her father, Paul, added, “We always knew where she was and who she was with. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary… Then, to get that phone call at that time of night—it’s the call no parent ever wants to receive. And unfortunately, we got that call: ‘Come and get your daughter.’”

Langdon explained that Esra’s friends initially thought she was having a panic attack. But in reality, after inhaling the aerosol deodorant, her body was shutting down—she had gone into cardiac arrest, and tragically, no one at the sleepover administered CPR.

When Andrea arrived, paramedics were desperately trying to revive Esra. That’s when they told her the shocking cause—chroming—something she had never even heard of until that devastating moment.

Esra was rushed to the hospital, and her family clung to hope. Her heart and lungs were strong—maybe, just maybe, she could pull through.

After eight heartbreaking days on life support, Paul and Andrea received the devastating news: Esra’s brain was damaged beyond repair. They were faced with the unthinkable decision—to turn off the machine keeping their daughter alive.

Struggling to find the words, her parents relived the agony of that moment, explaining the unbearable pain of saying goodbye.

Asked to gather family and friends for final farewells, Esra’s father, Paul, shared, “It was a very, very difficult thing to do to such a young soul. She was placed on a bed so we could lay with her. We cuddled her until the end.”

Overwhelmed by their grief, Ally Langdon—herself a mother of two—couldn’t hold back her emotions, visibly tearing up.

Esra passed away in early April, leaving her family shattered. “We’re completely broken,” Paul said, adding that her siblings, Imogen, Seth, and Charlie, are struggling with unimaginable loss.

“It’s been devastating for everyone—her friends, too,” he continued. “This has been the most difficult, traumatic time any parent could endure. We haven’t been sleeping, we’ve barely been eating, we’re not smiling—we’re just not ourselves. And it’s not just us. This has deeply affected our entire community.”

Before Esra’s tragic death, Paul and Andrea had never even heard of chroming. Now, they are determined to raise awareness about the deadly trend, which involves inhaling toxic fumes from common household products like deodorant, paint, hairspray, or permanent markers—an increasingly dangerous craze among teens.

In a conversation with a local news station, Paul expressed his regret: “If we had known about chroming, we would have had that conversation around our kitchen table. We would have warned her.”

Determined to prevent other families from enduring the same pain, Paul is now on a mission to educate parents so they, in turn, can educate their children and possibly save lives.

“Parents need to sit down with their kids and open up this conversation—gently, but openly. We had no idea this was happening.”

Since 2009, chroming has claimed the lives of multiple children across Australia and beyond. The Haynes family hopes their tragedy will serve as a wake-up call—one that helps stop this deadly trend before it claims another young life.

Chroming—a dangerous trend that can cause seizures, heart attacks, suffocation, sudden sniffing death, coma, and organ failure—has become an alarming way for young people to seek an immediate but short-lived high.

Paul Haynes described the haunting impact of his daughter’s tragedy: “We’ve got the pictures in our mind that will never be erased. What we were confronted with… our gut was ripped out.”

No family should ever have to face the unbearable decision of taking their child off life support. Our hearts go out to the Haynes family and all those who loved Esra.

Help prevent more tragedies by spreading awareness. Share this story and start the conversation—because educating parents and children on the dangers of chroming could save lives.