Child collapses, dies after huffing deodorant outside Hamilton mall

The Coroner is investigating the death of a child who collapsed after huffing deodorant on a Hamilton street.

The 12-year-old boy was huffing the deodorant at a bus stop with two friends on Tasman Rd, behind The Base shopping centre.

A member of the public told him off, and he ran across the road - still huffing - and collapsed, a spokeswoman for the Coroner said.

“Members of the public and ambulance staff tried to help him, but he could not be revived,” she said.

“The child ingested an inhalant believed to be a Dove deodorant can.”

A police spokeswoman said officers attended a sudden death on Tasman Rd about 6.50pm on Saturday.

She said the death wasn’t being treated as suspicious, and it would be referred to the Coroner.

It follows the death of 13-year-old Esra Haynes, who got severe brain damage after inhaling chemicals from a can of deodorant in Australia in March this year.