A teenage girl’s family is mourning her loss after she partook in a trend that has been growing in popularity on social media. Now they are raising the alarm to warn others.
Keep reading to know more.
In March this year, 13-year-old Tiegan Jarman was found unresponsive in her bedroom. Emergency services in her county of Leicestershire, UK, were called in an attempt to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead on the scene.
Tiegan’s parents think she died as a result of the dangerous social media trend, which is called ‘chroming.’
Anthony Pizon, MD, who specializes in toxicology, said ‘chroming’ is ‘a variation of an old theme of huffing all sorts of hydrocarbons’.
He explained, “People have been huffing metallic paints for a long, long time. This is really not new; maybe it’s just been rediscovered.”
In the wake of the teenager’s death, her family is speaking out. Her step-father Rob Hopkin said, “We are not too sure if she had [tried chroming] before, as there is no way of tracing it. When it happened she had used at least one can of deodorant.”
He went on, “She loved her pets – two dogs and a cat, and she loved spending time with her best friend Teigan. They would often spend weekends at each other’s houses.”
“She used to enjoy winding her siblings up, especially Alisha, and she had a laugh that was so infectious and would light up a room. Once you met her, you could never forget her and she wanted to follow in her mum Sonia’s footsteps and work at the hospital or be an actress,” they said.
“Tiegan also loved watching the sunset in the evening. It has been devastating for the whole family, and our lives will never be the same again,” he stated.
Her father, Paul Jarman, also said in a statement, “She was the most loving, daring girl ever. She was warm, she was funny, she was quirky. She had a great laugh – and she made me laugh.”
“My life was twisted upside down when she died, and I have to keep strong and carry on. She used to always call me Pookie. It’s just the funny little stuff,” said the grieving father.
The family is now hoping to spread awareness about this trend in hopes to warn other parents.
Rob stated, “It’s hard to feel angry in a strange way because it’s not one individual that has caused this.”
“We believe that the social media sites should be better at controlling what’s shown on their sites. They seem to be able to control certain things like pornography, but do not seem that bothered about the trends that can kill instantly,” he went on.
Tiegan leaves behind three siblings, Brogan, 24, Callum, 17, and a sister, Alisha, 18, as well as four step-siblings. Her sister Alisha has started a petition online to get dangerous trends highlighted and taught in programs to children in schools.
The petition is titled, ‘Enforce warnings on solvent products and educate on risks’ and is hosted on Change.org. It hopes to ensure that products that carry risks come with prominent warning labels about their misuse. The petition is available here.
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