I’m sharing shock video of my son, 12, fighting for life after ‘chroming’ challenge – I watched light go out of his eyes
A MUM has shared the horrifying video of her son fighting for his life after undertaking the “chroming” challenge.
The shocking footage shows the 12-year-old boy being given CPR by paramedics after the youngster went into cardiac arrest having attempted the deadly social media trend.
Nichola King had just finished breastfeeding her two-year-old baby upstairs on the evening of August 21 when she heard a loud thud from the kitchen.
The 36-year-old, who lives in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, began walking downstairs to investigate when she saw her son Cesar having a seizure on the kitchen floor.
Frantic, the mum-of-four called for her other children and began performing CPR on her 12-year-old while her eldest son Kaiden rang for the ambulance.
Cesar was rushed to hospital where he was placed in a medically induced coma for two days after suffering several seizures and going into cardiac arrest.
Horrifying images shared by the mum as a warning to others show the boy lying on his back as paramedics perform chest compressions in a bid to save him – while other photos show him in a coma in intensive care with tubes in his mouth.
His medical emergency is understood to have been triggered by the chroming trend, which can result in slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea and disorientation but can also cause a heart attack or suffocation.
Luckily, Cesar made a full recovery after eight days in hospital – but mum Nichola wants to warn other parents about the challenge that nearly cost her her son’s life.
Nichola 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.
“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.”
While waiting for the paramedics to arrive, Nichola began performing CPR on her son to try and restore his breathing.
Cesar was then rushed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary where he suffered several seizures and went into cardiac arrest a number of times.
The dangers of the 'chroming' challenge
A 12-year-old girl was sick for days having attempted the 'chroming' challenge
Mikayla Solomon, from Rochester in Kent, has shared shocking snaps of her daughter Teigan after the challenge made her “violently ill”.
Experts have warned that “chroming” can cause loss of consciousness, potentially fatal asphyxiation, and heart attacks.
Teigan suffered from heart palpitations and dizziness hours after taking part in the social media craze at a sleepover.
The youngster was rushed to A&E at Medway Maritime Hospital – and was still vomiting for 12 days after doctors gave her the all-clear.
Teigan was discharged from the hospital after undergoing a string tests.
But she vomited “constantly” for nearly a fortnight – with Mikayla fearing she was going to die.
Earlier this year, 11-year-old Tommie-Lee Billington died after trying the “chroming” challenge.
Irish teen Sarah Mescall also died aged just 14 after taking part in the dangerous craze.
Nichola was told by police that officers found a can of deodorant and other chroming paraphernalia on the kitchen floor – leading them to believe Cesar had inhaled the anti-perspirant before falling unconscious.
Nichola said: “I’d not heard of [chroming] before this. I thought he was going to die.”
After being transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Cesar was placed into a medically induced coma for 48 hours.
Day by day, Cesar began showing signs of progress and soon started breathing on his own as well as talking and walking.
After eight days in hospital, Cesar was discharged and able to return home after making a miraculous recovery.
Nichola said: “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.”
Now, Nichola wants to raise awareness of the dangers of taking part in this social media trend.
Nichola said: “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.”