Sucking Helium Out Of A Balloon Can Actually Kill You
Sucking Helium Out Of A Balloon Can Actually Kill You, At some point, most people have sucked the helium out of a balloon to get that squeaky, high-pitched voice - including one of the classiest ladies out there, Dame Helen Mirren - but it's time to put the balloon down. The common party trick, typically thought of as harmless fun, has made headlines over the past few years for causing serious, life-threatening injuries - and in some cases, death.
Recently, one family made headlines after a mom in Scotland found her daughter unconscious at McDonald's. The 9-year-old sucked in helium from a balloon she'd found and passed out, The Sun reported.
"Daisy must have been standing with her back to the area where the sauces are placed and the next thing I heard was a bang," the mother, Kelly Milne, told the newspaper. "I looked round and she was slumped in the corner - she had collapsed. Her eyes were rolling and I was terrified."
The balloon was just floating in the store, and when the staff and others saw Daisy playing with it, they thought nothing of it. "It had just been a practical joke - you see so many kids and even adults doing it," Milne added.
After five minutes and some fresh air, Daisy came to. She was ultimately fine, but not all stories have such happy endings. While sucking helium from a balloon probably won't kill you - you're most likely to pass out from lack of oxygen, Slate reported - taking in helium from pressurized tanks, hoods, or masks (or stepping inside a giant helium balloon) is a completely different story. And far, far more dangerous.
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| Sucking Helium Out Of A Balloon Can Actually Kill You |
Back in 2012, a 14-year-old girl was hospitalized and later died after inhaling helium at a party with her friends. In 2006, the bodies of two college students were found inside of a giant helium balloon in Florida.
Doctors have weighed in on the dangers of inhaling helium, and they essentially all come to the same conclusion: Actual injuries are rare, but not impossible.
Dr. Mark Morocco, associate professor of emergency medicine at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles, told Fox News that the effects of helium on the body are similar to what happens when a scuba diver surfaces from the water too quickly. A gas bubble can get into the blood stream through a tear in a blood vessel, block blood flow to the brain, and cause a stroke.
Parents around the world have spoken out against the popular activity – even starting charities – calling it more insidious than other kinds of peer pressure because it appears harmless.
Frank Pegueros, executive director of DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), told Foxthat it's just about making sure kids are aware of the dangers. "It's getting somebody to pause and think and evaluate the situation and determine, is this something that's going to have a bad consequence?"
