Teenager dies after inhaling cleaning product in social media ‘dusting’ challenge
A teenager has died after inhaling a cleaning product as part of a social media ‘dusting’ challenge.
Renna O’Rourke dreamed of becoming famous and engaged in the deadly dare, sometimes known as ‘huffing’ or ‘chroming’, which involves consuming aerosols such as cleaning products.
The 19-year-old from Arizona, USA, was taken to intensive care after suffering a cardiac arrest and was later declared dead on June 1.
Her parents, Aaron and Dana, shared their trauma of seeing their daughter die after being put on life support.
Aaron wrote on Facebook: ‘There’s a lot of things that no one should ever have to do, and today I have to do one of them. Say goodbye to my beautiful, wonderful girl Renna.
‘From the moment she was born she could light up a room. Everyone that met her always said she had a special spark to her. I’m going to miss talking to her about how cute it was when she was not even 2 years old and I would say let’s kick it and she would kick her foot out. Or how she would just make up songs off the cuff and have me record them.’
He added: ‘I’m currently stunned and broken. It doesn’t even feel real. You will always be my little Ren Bear, and you will be missed more than you will ever know, by so many more people than just me.’
The heartbroken couple have used their tragedy to warn others of the dangers of engaging in social media dares.
Renna and her boyfriend ordered the keyboard cleaning product, named Door Dashed, via an app delivery service.
Dana told AZFamily: ‘There’s no ID required. It’s odorless. It’s everything kids look for. They can afford it, they can get it, and it doesn’t show in mom and dad’s drug test.’
Renna’s organs were donated and have gone on to save at least six lives.
Dr Randy Weisman, from the HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center, explained that the substances once inhaled replace oxygen in the body, including the lungs, with chemicals.
This can cause irreversible damage within minutes as the inhaler feels drunk or euphoric, and can lead to liver failure, heart failure or lung disease.
At a conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics last year, permanent markers were found to be the most common item used for dusting, appearing in 31 percent of the videos, MailOnline reported.
They were followed by air dusters and nail polish, as well as paint thinner, gasoline and spray deodorant.
A total of 109 dusting videos were found to have racked up as many as 25 million views.
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