by The mother of an 11-year-old boy who died after taking part in a dangerous TikTok challenge has urged other parents to “talk about the consequences” of social media crazes with their children.
Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington suffered a suspected cardiac arrest on Saturday after taking part in a trend known as “chroming”, his family said.
Chroming, also known as shaving or sniffing, is when a person inhales toxic chemicals such as paint, solvent, aerosol cans, cleaning products or petrol. These inhalations affect the central nervous system and slow down brain activity, resulting in a short-term “high”.
It can cause slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea and restlessness but it can also lead to a heart attack or asthma. His family had previously said that Tommie-Lee “died instantly” in his sleep at a friend’s house in Lancaster.
And his mother, Sherri, urged parents to hide “all deodorant” from their children so they can’t take part in the challenge.
“As much as I hate talking about it,” she wrote, “I need to raise awareness about what kids want today. Please, please, please hide all deodorants from your children. This cost my son his life for trying something other kids are doing. They are using and inhaling this to try it out [to] get a buzz. It is beyond me why anyone would even attempt this. It is so dangerous.
“Tommie stayed with his friend and he was inhaling this with his friend which cost him his poor young life. Please talk to your children about the consequences of this, I have no idea how it got this is even for children to try.”
Lancashire Police described his death as “unexplained”. A GoFundMe page set up in Tommie-Lee’s memory has raised almost £3,500 to help with funeral costs.
Although TikTok has banned any search for the term “chroming challenge”, Yahoo News was able to search and find a video where some young people went so far as to share tips in the comments section on how to level the achieve better.
We found the videos after searching for “chroming”, which in itself doesn’t show you anything, but using the suggested searches provided by TikTok’s algorithm ended up serving us more harmful videos. The videos in question show a method and recommend a product that could be used for high. Some users seemed confused by the video and only found out about inhaling aerosols in the comments.
All the videos appear to have been posted in February of this year and one has over 730,000 views and has been bookmarked by 1,000 users. Yahoo News has reached out to TikTok for comment on these videos, which have since been removed.
It is not clear how widespread the “chroming” craze is on various social media platforms or where the specific term originated.
In Australia, the phrase was used in connection with the deaths of two teenagers in November 2017 and in May 2023 it was reported that a 13-year-old girl from Melbourne, Esra Haynes, also died after participating in the trend.
While the emergence of social media crazes is a natural concern for parents, inhaling solvents for a high is a problem long before social media.
According to the solvent abuse charity Re-Solv, trends in deaths from gas and solvent inhalation in the UK have decreased over the years, from a high of 152 deaths in 1990 to 38 in 2020. The charity says that the average age Deaths related to inhalation of gases and solvents in the UK have actually increased, from 26 in 2002 to 46 in 2020.
The charity added in a statement to Yahoo News: “The figures available to us (which ended in 2020 and 2021) may not take into account the impact of social media trends, but we haven’t seen much. impact.”
Dr Lawrence Cunningham, a retired doctor who now works with UK Care Guide, told Yahoo News that tackling “chroming” is an important issue because the products in question can be found at low cost.
Dr. Cunningham said: “From my experience of working closely with young individuals and families affected by substance abuse, “cracking” and solvent abuse is still a significant concern in some communities. .”
He said that while solvent abuse has immediate effects such as dizziness and euphoria, the “scary long-term effects” can include damage to the brain, kidneys, liver and, in some cases, death
“These health consequences, exacerbated by the social and legal issues that often accompany substance abuse, paint a bleak picture of the challenges these young people face.”
Yahoo News has reached out to TikTok for comment, but has not yet received a response. After the death of an Irish teenager in September 2023 who was involved in cromming at the time, TikTok said in a statement: “This type of content is prohibited on our platform and would be removed if found.”
