Langdon, visibly moved, struggled to contain her own emotions during the interview. As a mother herself, she found it impossible not to empathize with the Haynes family.
Following Esra’s death in early April, Paul described the profound grief that has consumed their family. Esra’s siblings—Imogen, Seth, and Charlie—are “shattered,” and the entire family is “broken.” Paul shared, “It’s been the most difficult, traumatic time any parent could go through. We haven’t been sleeping, we’ve hardly been eating, we haven’t been smiling—we’re not ourselves… But it’s not just affected us, it’s affected the community as well.”
Prior to Esra’s death, the Haynes family had never heard of chroming. Now, they are on a mission to raise awareness about this deadly trend, which involves common household products such as deodorant, paint, hairspray, and permanent markers. Chroming is increasingly popular among teens, despite its devastating risks.
Paul expressed deep regret, wishing he had known about chroming while Esra was still alive so he could have warned her. “If we were educated and the word had been put out there, we would have had the discussion around our kitchen table for sure,” he said. “We need to ramp it up and let these kids find out the information first-hand, and not through friends or social media—then they’re given the right advice from the start.”
Now, Paul is committed to educating other parents, urging them to talk to their children about chroming before it’s too late. “Parents need to sit and have a chat with their children, and just open that conversation up gently. We certainly didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
Since 2009, chroming has been responsible for the deaths of several children in Australia and worldwide. The trend, which can cause seizures, heart attacks, suffocation, coma, and organ failure, is alarmingly attractive to young people seeking a short-term high.
