US Girl, 19, Dies After Trying Viral "Dusting" Challenge. All About This Deadly Social Media Trend
A 19-year-old girl in the US died on Sunday after taking part in a deadly social media trend called "dusting". According to The Independent, Renna O'Rourke from Arizona died after spending four days in the intensive care unit (ICU). Her parents said that she and her boyfriend ordered aerosol keyboard cleaner without their knowledge. After inhaling the keyboard cleaner, the teen went into cardiac arrest, spent a week unconscious in the ICU and then was declared brain dead.
"She always said, 'I'm going to be famous, dad. Just you watch. I'm going to be famous,' and unfortunately, this is not under the most optimal of circumstances," the girls' father Aaron O'Rourke, said, per the outlet.
"Dusting," also known as "chroming" or "huffing," is a viral trend that involves inhaling common household cleaners to get high for views online. The sensation reportedly causes brief euphoria but can cause instant, fatal damage, often due to heart failure, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
According to a GoFundMe page, Renna was pronounced brain dead after purposely breathing in the cleaning spray. "There's no ID required. It's odourless. It's everything kids look for. They can afford it, they can get it, and it doesn't show in mom and dad's drug test," Renna's mother, Dana O'Rourke, said, per People. "She never regained consciousness," her mother added.
Renna's parents described their late daughter as "vivacious and caring and loyal." Her father said that the 19-year-old loved to sing and lit up every room with her smile and laughter.
Now, the O'Rourke family is working to honour Renna by spreading the word about the dangers of huffing for teens and parents. "Dig deep. Search their rooms. Don't trust - and that sounds horrible, but it could save their life," the mother said.
They also started a GoFundMe page to cover the extensive medical bills, burial costs and therapy costs. Renna's father also plans to use the proceeds to spread awareness about the dangers of Huffing/Dusting, the practice of inhaling keyboard cleaner or similar.
Notably, this trend has been around for years. In March 2024, an 11-year-old boy from the U.K. died after copying videos he had seen on social media of people sniffing or inhaling toxic substances.
Figures cited by CNN also show an increase in the number of teens taking part in this deadly trend. From 2015 to 2022, the number of 12- to 17-year-old American adolescents using inhalants declined from 684,000 in 2015 to 554,000 in 2022, according to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
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