A 12-year-old boy was left fighting for his life after a dangerous TikTok deodorant trend went disasterously wrong, causing a cardiac arrest.
Cesar Watson-King, from Doncaster, had allegedly inhaled a can of anti-perspirant last month after being shown the social media craze, ‘chroming’, by an older boy.
The trend involves inhaling toxic fumes, from deodorant cans, hairspray and nail polish remover in order to achieve a ‘high’.
But moments after the inhalation, Cesar’s mother, Nichola King, discovered him on the kitchen floor having a seizure. The 36-year-old performed CPR to restore his breathing as his brother rang for an ambulance.
Cesar was rushed to hospital where he suffered further seizures and a cardiac arrest before being placed in a medically induced coma.
But moments later his mother, Nichola King, discovered him on the kitchen floor having a seizure
The mum-of-four has now shared horrifying images of paramedics performing chest compressions in a bid to save him, to serve as a warning of the trend’s dangers.
Chroming has been used as a slang term to describe the trend of inhaling toxic fumes before TikTok’s launch in the UK in 2018.
However, chroming videos appeared to have been posted on the platform even back in February, with at least one surpassing 700,000 views.
TikTok say it has barred search results appearing for ‘chroming challenge’.
Recalling Cesar’s ordeal, Ms King said: ‘I had just finished breastfeeding my baby and was drifting off to sleep when I heard this really loud bang. I thought one of the kids had done something.
‘I had heard Cesar creeping downstairs and thought he’d gone downstairs for something to eat. The bang sounded like someone had fallen over.
‘I heard like a moaning sound from downstairs and thought Cesar had broken a bone or something.
The mum-of-four has now shared horrifying images of paramedics performing chest compressions in a bid to save him, to serve as a warning of the trend’s dangers
Cesar Watson-King, from Doncaster, had allegedly inhaled a can of the anti-perspirant last month after being shown the social media craze, ‘chroming’, by an older boy
‘I started going downstairs and saw Cesar lying on the floor and his eyes were rolling back into his head.
‘It was terrifying. He was having a seizure. I ran upstairs to get my phone. I couldn’t even unlock my phone to ring an ambulance because my hands were shaking so much so my eldest rang 999.
‘I thought he’d fallen over and hit his head. I had no idea what had happened. He went blue and stopped breathing. I thought he’d died.
‘I was in complete shock. I’d watched my son die and watched the light go out of his eyes.’
Paramedics rushed him to Doncaster Royal Infirmary where he suffered several seizures and went into cardiac arrest a number of times, she said.
She also claimed she was told by police that officers found a can of Aldi Lacura deodorant and other chroming paraphernalia on the kitchen floor — leading them to believe Cesar had inhaled the anti-perspirant before falling unconscious.
The word ‘chroming’ is an informal word that originates from Australia.
After being transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Cesar was placed into a medically induced coma for 48 hours
Ms King has now also issued a warning about the dangers of the ‘chroming’ challenge, warning children ‘it’s not worth it’
Frantic, the 36-year-old performed CPR to restore his breathing as his brother rang for an ambulance. Cesar was rushed to hospital where he suffered further seizures and a cardiac arrest before being placed in a medically induced coma. Pictured, Ms King with Cesar and two-year-old daughter Casi
When the inhalants are abused, they affect the central nervous system and slow down brain activity, which results in a short-term ‘high.’
The dangerous trend can result in slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea and disorientation but can also cause suffocation.
Breathing in toxic fumes can also cause more serious symptoms such as forcing the heart to go out of rhythm, potentially causing a heart attack or cardiac arrest.
Last September, 14-year-old Sarah Mescall, from County Clare, Ireland, died after she also took part in the online craze
England’s drug and aerosol abuse charity Talk to Frank reports there are more than 50 deaths in the country each year involving glues, gases, solvents and aerosols.
The charity stresses that it takes just a little too much of an aerosol to result in coma and even death.
In March, 11-year-old Tommie-lee Gracie Billington from Lancaster died after allegedly trying the trend during a sleepover at a friend’s house.
Tommie-lee’s family is now desperate to prevent the tragedy from taking any other young lives.
Last September, 14-year-old Sarah Mescall, from County Clare in Ireland, also died after she also took part in the online craze.
Sarah collapsed after inhaling fumes and was put into an induced coma, but sadly died three days later.
Recalling Cesar’s terrifying ordeal, Ms King said: ‘I’d not heard of [chroming] before this. An older boy had showed him how to do it.
‘When police told me what he’d inhaled, I thought he was going to die. I knew it said on the back of cans “solvent abuse kills instantly”.’
After being transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Cesar was placed into a medically induced coma for 48 hours.
But he was discharged after just eight days in hospital, able to breathe again on his own as well as walk and talk.
Ms King added: ‘I was over the moon. He was almost back to completely normal when he was discharged — eating, drinking, having a laugh. He just feels tired.
‘We don’t know about long-term damage, but his short-term memory is very bad. He couldn’t remember what had happened.
‘If I hadn’t heard something that night, I’d have come downstairs to a dead 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.’
She has also issued a warning about the dangers of the ‘chroming’ challenge, warning children ‘it’s not worth it’.
She added: ‘I’d say to the kids, it’s not worth it. 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 death.’
Aldi declined to comment.
