Just on local news that a 13 yr old died after inhaling helium from her birthday balloon. Her family are appealing for people not to buy them or at least not try the party trick.

I honestly didnt realise it was dangerous !

I guess if you fill your lungs with it that might not be so good since there would be no room for oxygen.

Helium is safe from an exploding point of view because it is inert

my mum always told me as akid not to inhale it as it could kill you, just thought it was another one of them things mums tell you x

To be fair the balloons looked massive (those huge numbers).

She was found dead in her room with deflated balloon beside her, cause of death suffication. Maybe she sucked in too much.... Still dont think i'l be encouraging Caitlin to do it when she older.

Its not been confirmed though, its just friends speculating as no one was there with her at the time
Maybe she sucked in the whole balloon's worth - which is pretty daft but a kid wouldn't know

I have always been funny with this - my friend was doing it a while back with her daughters balloons and was egging me to do it
I have always had a feeling I shouldn't and said to her if I do it I'll die she lol'ed at me
I had a school friend who inhaled gas once as a kid and died of heart attack in the local park.. Think that stuck with me, if people play about with helium around me I either have panic attack or leave swiftly (((

Yep I'm weird!!

I thought it had been confirmed...

http://www.u.tv/News/Mother-warns-against-helium-danger/11d28475-53bc-446d-bef9-a946b53b86f0

Actually your right it may not have been, but looks likely.

i done it once and once only and ended up in such a fit of coughing it made me struggle to breath and my chest tight. i am asthmatic thou. never again

i used to love doing helium but then i heard it could kill ya and will save my kids the job of killing themselves with balloons as i will do it for them if i catch them ,,, same goes with the blackout game and gas ect

just wanna add i wouldnt actually kill my kids ,,,,,,,

LOL michelle, glad you clarified you wouldnt actually kill them

Whats the blackout game?

michell that made me laugh!! i got scorned at for having a freak out at garry last summer.. he ran in front of the road and a car had to stop.. it is in the estate so only doing 20/30 and i screamed at him, if u wanna get knocked down i will bloody do it for u.. think i went too far thou when i said and splatter you like road kill.. im so glad he never understood what i said. i was pretty ashamed of my self for saying that. totall freat out/ fear moment.

nice to know im not the only one who thinks like that lol !


OT sorry hehe!

Im sure I heard of a case years ago where somebody else died like this.

That stuff always freaks me out x

the black out game is something that kids play ,, they either with hands or straps/belts strangle each other to a certain point , unfortunately some end fatally ,, is used by adults sexualy also

just pulled this wee bit
The fainting game (also known as the choking game and a wide variety of local slang names), refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing temporary syncope and euphoria. There are two distinct methods used to achieve oxygen deprivation: strangulation and self-induced hypocapnia.

I never knew this I do it all the time (well not all the time, but when we have balloons)

that is so sad

That is so sad I never knew helium could kill you either!

I didnt think it would kill someone but like u said if you take in the hole balloon. Ive only ever seen people do little bits come to think of it xx

My SIL did a ''balloons'' course where she learnt how to do balloons for occasions such as weddings etc and when we were at a party a couple of years back she was going mental because people were sucking helium out of the balloons, she said that an average sized balloon worth of helium is enough to kill you xx

Oh wow I didn't know this either, I did it once with one of Harry's bday balloons and got a massive headache lol xx

I think it's only if you inhale the whole thing though... a little bit won't kill you but then obviously it's better to be safe than sorry.... but who can resist helium.... I know I cant