Australia’s Ally Langdon couldn’t hide her sadness when she talked to a mom and dad who had to make the heartbreaking decision to end the life of their 13-year-old daughter.
Their daughter died because of a dangerous social media trend called chroming, and Langdon, who is also a mom, struggled to keep her tears in.
On A Current Affair, Ally Langdon spoke with Andrea and Paul Haynes about their daughter Esra’s tragic death. Esra died after trying a dangerous trend called chroming, where people inhale toxic chemicals to get high.
Esra was remembered as “determined, fun, cheeky, and talented” by the Montrose Football Netball Club, where she was co-captain. She was a young athlete who raced BMX bikes with her brothers and helped her team win a national aerobics championship in Queensland.
Heartbreaking Decision: Parents Forced to Pull the Plug on 13-Year-Old Daughter After Sleepover Nightmare!
Australia’s Ally Langdon couldn’t hide her sadness when she talked to a mom and dad who had to make the heartbreaking decision to end the life of their 13-year-old daughter.
Their daughter died because of a dangerous social media trend called chroming, and Langdon, who is also a mom, struggled to keep her tears in.
On A Current Affair, Ally Langdon spoke with Andrea and Paul Haynes about their daughter Esra’s tragic death. Esra died after trying a dangerous trend called chroming, where people inhale toxic chemicals to get high.
Esra was remembered as “determined, fun, cheeky, and talented” by the Montrose Football Netball Club, where she was co-captain. She was a young athlete who raced BMX bikes with her brothers and helped her team win a national aerobics championship in Queensland.
about:blank
Black Widow: Stream or Download
Deadpool & Wolverine: Watch Now!
FREE Cricket streaming!
On March 31, Esra went to a friend’s house for a sleepover. Sadly, she tried a dangerous activity called chroming, where she sniffed a can of aerosol deodorant. This caused her to go into cardiac arrest and suffer serious brain damage.
“It was just a normal night for her, hanging out with friends,” Esra’s mom Andrea told Langdon in the interview. Her dad Paul added, “We always knew where she was and who she was with. It wasn’t anything unusual… But that night, we got a call no parent ever wants to get: ‘Come and get your daughter.’”
Langdon explains that Esra’s friends thought she was having a panic attack, but after inhaling the deodorant, her body started to shut down and she went into cardiac arrest. None of the friends knew what to do for a cardiac arrest.
When Andrea got to Esra, paramedics were trying to save her and told her that Esra had been chroming, which Andrea had never heard of before.
Esra was taken to the hospital, and her parents hoped she would recover since her heart and lungs were still strong.
After eight days on life support, Paul and Andrea were told that Esra’s brain was too damaged to be fixed, and they had to make the heart-wrenching decision to turn off the machines.
Struggling to find the words, her parents talked about how painful it was to end their daughter’s life.
Esra’s siblings and friends are now on a mission to warn others about the dangers of chroming, a dangerous trend that led to Esra’s death. Chroming involves inhaling things like deodorant to get high, and it caused Esra to go into cardiac arrest.
Esra’s dad said it was incredibly hard to bring family and friends to the hospital for their final goodbyes. “It was so hard to say goodbye to her,” he said. “We laid with her and hugged her until the end.”
Seeing the parents’ pain, Ally Langdon, who has two young kids of her own, couldn’t hold back her tears.
Since Esra’s death in early April, Paul says the family is completely “broken” and Esra’s siblings, Imogen, Seth, and Charlie, are all devastated. Paul said, “It’s been the hardest, most traumatic time for us. We haven’t been sleeping, eating, or smiling. It’s not just affected us, but the whole community.”
Paul and Andrea didn’t know about chroming before it took their daughter, but now they want to raise awareness about this dangerous trend. Chroming uses everyday products like deodorant, paint, or hairspray to get high, and it can cause serious health problems or death.
Paul wishes he had known about chroming so he could have warned Esra. “If we had known about it, we would have talked to her about it,” he said.
Paul plans to help other parents learn about chroming so they can talk to their kids about it and keep them safe. “Parents need to talk to their children about these dangers,” he said.
Since 2009, chroming has caused many deaths in Australia and around the world. It can lead to seizures, heart attacks, suffocation, and more.
Paul said, “We will always remember what we saw. It broke our hearts.”
Please share this story to help other parents learn about the dangers of chroming and protect their children.
Mom Slammed, Told Her Wrinkled Baby ‘Should Be Kept Hidden’ — He’s Turned into a Handsome Man Years Later
In many ways, Tomm Tennent was an incredibly unique person. From the moment he arrived in the world, everyone around him knew he was different from other babies. When he was born, he had excess skin, sufficient enough to cover a five-year-old kid.
Even the doctors were baffled when they saw his wrinkled appearance, as they had never seen anything like it in their medical career. Tomm’s parents, Debbie and Geoff Tennent were also flabbergasted when they saw their baby and didn’t know how to react.
Debbie and Geoff Tennent | Source: YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
From his incredible birth experience to his life after that, Tomm and his parents experienced a journey unlike any other. It all started when Debbie and Geoff welcomed their son in a South East Australia hospital in 1993.
Eventually, after years of trying and looking for a clue, they stumbled upon something astonishing.
At the time, they didn’t know how special their baby boy would be. Before Tomm’s birth, his parents couldn’t have guessed that their child would go on to mystify medical professionals. But when they went in for the ultrasounds, they discovered nothing was as expected.
Initially, the Tennents struggled to determine whether or not they would keep the baby. But after discussing the matter, it didn’t take them long to decide that regardless of the consequences, they would go through with the pregnancy.
Tomm Tennent pictured as a baby | YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
But while Debbie and Geoff were prepared for everything, they were oblivious to how serious their child’s condition could be. They were taken aback and rendered speechless when they laid eyes on their infant son for the first time.
“When [Tomm] came out, I was quite shocked…I didn’t think a human, or a little baby, could ever look like that,” recalled Geoff about the moment he first saw his son. Of the instance when her baby was placed on her chest, Debbie recounted:
“My heart came up to my throat.”
But at the same time, Debbie was overcome with motherly sentiments and said it felt lovely to cuddle her son. Despite their shocked initial reaction, the Tennents embraced their son, who had too much skin covering almost every inch of his body.
A close up of Tomm Tennent’s wrinkled legs and feet | Source: YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
Medical Mystery & the Challenges of Growing Up
Tomm’s never-before-seen skin condition and wrinkled look baffled his parents and doctors. Since they could not decipher the reason behind his excess skin, they didn’t know how to treat it.
After much contemplation, medical experts hoped that, over time, the boy would grow into his skin. But given the youngster’s unique appearance, researchers felt triggered to explore his case further and solve the rather complex genetic puzzle.
Debbie Tennent holds her son, Tomm Tennent, while petting a Shar Pei | Source: YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
Tomm was no stranger to hospital visits and stayed in a medical center for two and a half months. There, he had to undergo multiple tests and scans, which were reportedly insufficient in helping the researchers crack the code of his mysterious condition.
Andrew Ramsden, Tomm’s pediatrician, admitted that his case was incredibly challenging because he was the first baby born on record with excess skin, and the doctors had nowhere to turn to for guidance.
Accompanying their little boy on his many doctor’s visits and staying with him in the hospital for months wasn’t easy for the Tennents. But they found their strength and courage from looking at their sweet son, who was a happy tot and didn’t know the magnitude of his condition.
Tomm Tennent is pictured enjoying a bath | Source: YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
As time passed, Tomm’s doctors continued researching his condition, hoping to find something helpful. Eventually, after years of trying and looking for a clue, they stumbled upon something astonishing.
Medical professionals drew similarities between Tom’s appearance and the Shar Pei, a Chinese dog breed. They learned that the youngster’s excess skin was due to an oversupply of Hyaluronic Acid, which was 100 times higher than usual.
The same was true for Shar Pei puppies. Provided that the acid levels decreased in Shar Peis as they grew older and their appearance improved, the medical experts hoped for the same for Tomm.
Tomm Tennent pictured combing his hair while looking in the mirror. | Source: YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
Fortunately, as the doctors had anticipated, time was the best healer in Tomm’s case. Growing up, the Australian child received immense love and support from his parents. But he also experienced a multitude of challenges.
“Don’t judge people by what they looked like,” noted a young Tomm. Although he had always believed nothing was wrong with him, not everyone reciprocated his sentiments.
People continued to tease him, and he struggled to make friends at school. He felt hurt when kids refused to play with him or include him in their groups.
But instead of retreating and being demotivated by other people’s behavior toward him, Tomm began participating in games and made many friends. Soon, his school experience remarkably improved, and people started seeing him differently.
A young Tomm Tennent | Source: YouTube.com/60 Minutes Australia
While the Tennents were pleased to see their son move forward in life, some memories were etched in their minds. Debbie recollected an incident in a local bakery with Tomm when a woman approached her, questioning her decision to take her son out in public.
But that wasn’t all. The lady reportedly told Debbie that her son “should be kept hidden.” Devastated by the woman’s comments, the Australian mother didn’t know what to say to her then but vowed to care for her son and raise him in the best possible manner.
And as time would tell, Geoff and Debbie felt pure joy and pride seeing their son grow up. They were proud of him for being a good boy and excelling in every aspect of life, including school.
In an exclusive interview in 2003, the then-11-year-old Tomm said he saw a “kind, loving person” whenever he looked in the mirror. He confessed he wasn’t concerned about how his peers viewed him because they didn’t care about his appearance.
From the beginning, Debbie and Geoff taught their son to accept and love himself just as he was. The couple believed that real beauty came from within, and they instilled the same values in their beloved boy.
Their efforts paid off because when Tomm was asked if he would change anything about himself, he responded, “Probably nothing.” With his parents’ affection and his inner strength, Tomm became an exceptionally kind and lovable person.
Leave a Reply