Doncaster pre-teen Cesar King suffered a cardiac arrest after taking part in the dangerous social media trend last year
After the d.e.a.d.l.y social media craze left her kid only days away from d.e.a.t.h, a distraught British mother is warning other parents about the perils of “chroming.”
While nursing her two-year-old infant in August of last year, Nichola King heard her preteen son Cesar pass out in the kitchen of their home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
The commotion had caused a loud thud, after which the 36-year-old rushed to the room to see her 12-year-old enduring a seizure on the floor.
“I heard like a moaning sound from downstairs and thought Cesar had b.r.o.k.e.n a bone or something,” King later told press.
“I started going downstairs and saw Cesar lying on the floor and his eyes were rolling back into his head.”
She was so terrified that she urged her other kids to call for aid and to call for an ambulance.
“I thought he’d f.a.l.l.e.n over and h.i.t his head. I had no idea what had happened,” King continued. “He went blue and stopped breathing. I thought he’d died. I was in complete shock.
“I’d watched my son d.i.e and watched the light go out of his eyes.”
While his older brother Kaidan called the police, the mother-of-four even tried CPR on Cesar.
After that, the boy was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary, where medical professionals informed King that he had experienced a heart a.r.r.e.s.t.
Whilst in their care, Cesar continued seizing, and endured a number of further heart a.t.t.a.c.k.s. This saw the youngster placed into a medically-induced coma, where he remained for two days.
Police searched the family’s house during this period and discovered a bottle of Aldi Lacura antiperspirant at the spot where Cesar’s mother had discovered him.
Authorities then determined that the youngster had been participating in the risky social media craze of “chroming” just minutes before he hit the ground, following the discovery of similar gear.
After hearing the devastating news, King admitted, “I had never heard of [chroming] before this.” “He had learned how to do it from an older boy.
“When police told me what he’d inhaled, I thought he was going to d.i.e. I knew it said on the back of cans ‘solvent abuse k.i.l.l.s instantly’.”
‘Chroming’ sees part-takers inhaling toxic chemicals, including the likes of paint, solvent, aerosol cans, cleaning products or petrol, in a bid to enjoy a short-term ‘high’.
Side effects of the unlawful habit, which is sadly well-documented on video-sharing apps, include nausea, disorientation, hallucinations, slurred speech, and dizziness.
In the most f.a.t.a.l c.a.s.e.s, however, ‘chroming’ can trigger a heart a.t.t.a.c.k or s.u.f.f.o.c.a.t.i.o.n.
Thankfully, in Cesar’s case, after being transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, the youngster made a full recovery.
By the eighth day under care, he’d begun breathing on his own, and could walk and talk again.
“I was over the moon,” King admitted following his release last year. “He was almost back to completely normal when he was discharged – eating, drinking, having a laugh. He just feels tired.”
She went on to note: “If I hadn’t heard something that night, I’d have come downstairs to a d.e.a.d body the next morning. I’ve spoken to Cesar and asked him to never do anything like this again.
“I’ve thrown out everything in the house that sprays.”
Naturally, King is using her devastating experience as a means of raising awarness of ‘chroming’, so other mums and dads don’t have to endure the heartache of almost losing a child.
“I’d say to the kids, it’s not worth it,” she explained. “It might feel good but it definitely doesn’t when you’re in the hospital trying to breathe for yourself and the pain you cause to your parents.
“And I want to stress the importance of parents being first-aid trained. I think anyone with kids should attend a course as it could be the difference between life and d.e.a.t.h.”
