TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — A Valley teenager died this week after participating in a social media challenge, known as “dusting.”
“Dusting” is a viral trend in which kids sniff computer dusting spray to get high. The scary thing is, before this experience, the O’Rourke family never heard of dusting.
Now, it’s their mission to share their daughter’s story to save others from losing their kids to the potential killers in their cabinets.
“She was vivacious and caring and loyal,” said Dana O’Rourke.
Renna O’Rourke always dreamed of being a star.
“She always said, ‘I’m gonna be famous, Dad. Just you watch. I’m gonna be famous’ and unfortunately this is not under the most optimal of circumstances,” said Aaron O’Rourke.
Her parents, Dana and Aaron, never imagined their daughter’s talent would be stolen at age 19 by dusting.
“There’s no ID required. It’s odorless. 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,” said Dana.
Dusting is also called “chroming” or “huffing.”
“This is extremely concerning,” said Dr. Randy Weisman. He leads the Intensive Care Unit at HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center. “When they inhale these chemicals in the gas it will actually replace the oxygen within their lungs and within the rest of their body.”
He said dusting makes the user feel drunk and euphoric for a couple of minutes, and in that short amount of time, the damage done after just one huff can be irreversible and even deadly.
“Failure of the liver, heart failure, disease of the lungs,” said Dr. Weisman.
Renna died of sudden sniffing death syndrome.
“She’s not the only one that this has happened to. Several other teenagers have succumb to this same disorder,” said Dr. Weisman.
“She spent the next seven days in the ICU. She never regained consciousness,” said Dana. “We don’t have children to bury them.”
As they do their best to cope with the loss, the O’Rourke family is finding some comfort in knowing Renna was able to help others through organ donation.
“She gave so much to so many in her short time here and went out the same way,” said Dana.
Dana has this message for parents in hopes of preventing future families from suffering the same pain:
“Don’t take your kids word for it. Dig deep. Search their rooms. Don’t trust and that sounds horrible, but it could save their life,” she said.
Dusting is different than another popular and easily accessible drug you might have heard of called whippets. It’s not the same kind of chemicals in the gas. Dr. Weisman said both are equally unsafe and encourages parents to have conversations with their kids about the dangers of abusing common household products.
A GoFundMe has been started to help pay for medical bills and burial expenses.
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