Esra Haynes parents call for more support for teens exposed to chroming

Esra Haynes parents have revealed the chroming death of their youngest daughter is still too raw to try and piece together her last moments.

Esra parents want more done to address teen mental health. Picture: 9News

The parents of teenager Esra Haynes are piecing together how their beloved daughter could have been “taken away by a can of deodorant” at a friend’s house.

Esra, 13, died last month after inhaling deadly chemicals in a practice called chroming.

Ahead of a major television interview airing tonight, Paul Haynes told the Herald Sun he and his wife Andrea had not seen any evidence their daughter had been chroming.

“...her mother clears her room daily,” Mr Haynes said.

“We weren’t aware of this practice being carried out so we were totally shocked and uneducated.”

Esra’s parents say they weren’t aware of chroming. Picture: 9News

He said it was a normal Friday night when Esra headed over to a friend’s house for a sleepover.

“The first phone call we received was, ‘come and get her’,” Mr Haynes said.

The teen was rushed to hospital in an unresponsive state and died a week later.

He said the family had a little bit of information, but it was still too soon to know exactly what happened on the night.

Mr Haynes said he and his wife had not be able to talk in depth with the parents and children who were with Esra at the time.

“(It’s) Still too traumatic and raw but we will piece it together in time,” he said.

“Parents are unaware of these problems with children experimenting with these addictive deadly products.

Mr Haynes said it was too soon to know exactly what happened.

Esra attended Lilydale High School.

“Our family has been dealing with losing our youngest child, who had such a beautiful depth of spirit and talented in many ways taken away by a can of deodorant,” Mr Haynes said.

He said addictions were in every facet of life and young children were being exposed to these practices online without their parents knowledge.

“Also, kids look and see that our attitude and current social degradation towards mind altering substances like alcohol, marijuana, party drugs, cocaine and ice — what message are we as a society sending to our kids that these practices are socially acceptable?”

“They are mirroring us as they naturally do so it must be hard as a young person not to be tempted to engage in some form of escape.”

Mr Haynes said the rise in mental health issues in children was not being addressed and there needed to be more support for the most vulnerable — especially following Covid.

He said not enough was being done to answer these problems.

Esra with siblings Imogen, Seth and Charlie Haynes. Picture: 10 News

In light of Esra’s death, the Education Department has accelerated efforts to provide schoolchildren with information about the dangers of chroming.

Medical experts say chroming would never be safe.

Ahead of the interview airing, Haynes family members have been supporting Paul and Andrea and their children Imogen, Seth and Charlie.

Tina Haynes posted a social media message praising the family: “Sharing your heartbreak, (when you didn’t have to & it’s the last thing you feel like doing) to try help others with pushing & opening up the conversation. It’s the most generous act of pure love you are showing for Esra.”