A mother’s harmless prank at her daughter‘s first birthday party tragically resulted in her death. Faith Waterman Batistich, a 20 year old from Te Puke, New Zealand, decided to participate in the traditional birthday stunt of inhaling helium to alter her voice’s pitch along with other party guests.
Despite attempts by her family to revive her, she was declared dead an hour after inhaling the gas. Her twin sister Eden, who is left heartbroken, shared that party attendees had been inhaling the gas from a canister used to inflate balloons, with everyone “jumping on the bandwagon”.
A fatal error occurred when a fellow guest increased the flow from the canister as Faith was inhaling directly from it. Recalling her sister’s final moments, Eden told the New Zealand Herald that the mood at the party was light-hearted, with people finding the altered voices amusing.
She said her sister initially hesitated but eventually joined in after a guest encouraged her. However, when one guest turned up the flow from the helium canister, it “shot” its contents into the back of her neck.
Eden recounted: “It went too fast and kind of shot her in the back of the neck. Her last words were literally, ‘Oh s***! “‘ To Eden’s horror, Faith “went blue instantly”, reports the Mirror.
Eden recounted the harrowing experience, saying: “I was just, like, in shock. I kind of just froze and it was like, ‘what the f***, what am I seeing? Like, is this for real? ‘ I thought she was putting it on at the start”. As they waited for emergency services, the twins’ mother Diane Waterman and her cousin spent 45 minutes attempting to resuscitate the young mum, but paramedics were unable to save Faith.
Eden has since remembered her sister as “bright and bubbly, just happy. Loud and obnoxious”, while officials have issued warnings about the dangers of inhaling helium. Coroner Louella Dunn concluded that the 20 year old was “unaware of the inherent dangers of inhaling helium” and emphasised that such an act is “potentially life-threatening”.
Helium can displace oxygen in the lungs when inhaled in large quantities, leading to low blood oxygen and ultimately hypoxia, a dangerous condition. Coroner Dunn warned: “These threats are heightened when inhaling pressurised helium from a cylinder/canister given the amount that can enter the body due to the pressurised gas.”