In the stillness of night, a young girl’s life was tragically cut short. Giorgia Green, a mere 14 years of age, lay in her bedroom, unaware of the deadly danger lurking in the form of an innocent aerosol can of deodorant.
As she sprayed the nozzle and breathed in the fumes, her fate was sealed. The toxic fumes claimed her life, and her parents were left to grieve the loss of their beloved daughter in a preventable accident.
But in the midst of their sorrow, they call out for change, for clearer labels on these products to warn of the dangers, in the hopes that no other family will have to endure the same heart-wrenching tragedy.
“People don’t know how dangerous the contents of those tins can be. I would like it so that no one else in the country — or the world — would end up having to go through what we’ve personally gone through,” the girl’s father, Paul, told the BBC.
“We don’t want our daughter’s death to be in vain,” he added.
There’s a warning to “keep out of reach out children” printed on all aerosol deodorants, but Giorgia’s parents say the warning label on the container was small.
According to her father, Giorgia was autistic and liked to spray the deodorant on her blanket before wrapping the blanket around herself.
“The smell of it gave her a certain sense of relaxation,” he said. “If she was feeling in any way a little bit anxious, she would spray this spray and it would give her a sense of comfort because it’s a deodorant my wife used.”
The girl’s older brother had been the one who discovered she was unresponsive in her room with the door wide open. A coroner determined her cause of death was “unascertained by consistent with inhalation of aerosol.”
Her parents made a fundraising page in order to spread awareness that the toxic chemicals found in such products can be deadly.
“So many people have asked what we can do to help. What we really want is to raise awareness about the dangers of aerosol products in the home,” her parents wrote.
“This hopefully could prevent further tragedies happening again. Now, our greatest wish is that beloved Giorgia’s passing is not in vain.”
Another British teen who was similarly obsessed with spray-on deodorant died in the same manner in 2016.
Thomas Townsend, 16, was found collapsed in his bedroom in a children’s home in Folkestone, Kent, by police. Authorities found 42 empty aerosol cans of deodorant, hairspray and other products in the room.
His cause of death was determined to be from butane gas inhalation.
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