Warning issued after mum 'went blue' and died doing common party trick at daughter's birthday party
A young mother suffered a sudden and tragic death at her child's birthday party when she tried pulling off a common party trick.
Faith Waterman Batistich was just 20 when she died in September 2022 while celebrating her daughter's second birthday.
Faith, from New Zealand, was messing around with other people at the party, inhaling helium from the balloons to make her voice sound funny and high-pitched.
It may sound harmless at first, until someone suggested that they start doing it straight from the helium canister, sparking disaster.
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Faith breathed in the colourless, odourless element from the canister, which can displace oxygen in the lungs, causing low blood oxygen - known in medical terms as hypoxia.
Doing this can lead to death, and sadly it did for Faith, as an inquest discovered that she was 'unaware of the inherent dangers of inhaling helium', calling for warning labels on canisters to be more obvious.
The victim's twin sister, Eden Waterman, reflected on the tragic turn of events, as she claimed that someone turned the flow up on the canister as Faith inhaled.
Speaking to the NZ Herald, she recalled: "It went too fast and kind of shot her in the back of the neck."
Recalling Faith's last words being 'Oh s**t' before she dropped to the floor, the twin admitted that she 'froze'.
As they lived in a town located 11 miles southeast of Tauranga, the nearest city, it took 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
Faith 'went blue instantly', and despite her cousin and mother trying their best to carry out CPR, it wasn't enough.
The news outlet reported that she died quickly due to asphyxiation, as Coroner Louella Dunn highlighted that the mum was 'unaware' of the dangers around the action, adding that 'her death was unexpected and tragic'.
She explained: “It can be considered funny and entertaining in a party environment to inhale helium which produces a high-pitched noise similar to that of a chipmunk.
“This is a known party pleaser. Many people are, however, unaware of the potential threats of inhaling helium in such a situation. What may seem like harmless fun is potentially life-threatening."
In fact, she thinks that there is a widespread misconception among the community about how dangerous it really is to inhale helium.
These dangers are increased when someone inhales pressurised helium from a cylinder or canister, with Coroner Dunn explaining that a lot can enter the body when it's done this way, in comparison to using balloons.
She then moved on to the concern around the warning label, which was on the canister, reading: “Do not place nozzle in mouth or nose for any reason. Doing so can damage lungs and other body parts which can result in serious personal injury or death.”
But Dunn claims that it was 'in very small print', explaining that the threat to human life was only at the end, when it should be the main point.
Adding that she was 'concerned' about the sign, the Coroner explained: “Many members of the public would be unaware of the potential risk of inhaling helium from a pressurised canister.
“I recommend that the warning should be in bold print at the top of the canister stating: ‘Do not inhale – risk of serious personal injury or death’.”
Topics: World News, Health
Joshua Nair