A woman is working to spread awareness after her five-year-old brother tragically passed away years ago following the inhalation of a helium balloon. Little Karlton Noah Donaghey had only been out of his mother’s sight for a few brief minutes.
Sadly, that short moment was enough for the child to grab a helium balloon, leading to fatal consequences. Now his older sister Kaitlin is highlighting the serious dangers of inhaling helium products, which can rapidly lead to brain death, reports The Mirror.
Experts have cautioned that even a single breath of the colourless gas can be deadly, as it displaces oxygen from the lungs and deprives essential organs of it. The Mirror reports that the hours before what a coroner would later call “every parent’s nightmare” seemed entirely ordinary.
It was June 23, 2022, a warm and sunny day, and like many children, young Karlton was outside enjoying the weather. With some free time, his sister Kaitlin, now 29, brought her twin daughters—then eight months old—to the family home to relax in her mother Lisa Donaghey’s garden, described as a “sun trap”, reports The Mirror.
The family happily snacked on sandwiches and cherries while Karlton played in a pop-up pool. Speaking to the Mirror, Kaitlin shared that as the youngest in the family, Karlton showed typical childhood jealousy toward his baby nieces, having been used to all the attention.
After getting out of the pool, he asked for a cuddle, but at that moment, his mother and sister were busy feeding the twins while sitting on a rocking chair, reports The Mirror.
Kaitlin, from Gateshead, recalled: “My mam said, ‘Well, just let us feed one of the girls, and then I’ll give you some you time and me, and you can have a cuddle’,” It was then that Karlton went to the toilet instead, reports The Mirror.
As they continued feeding the babies, neither Kaitlin nor Lisa realised it would be the last time they would hear him speak. As the minutes passed, they began to wonder why Karlton was taking so long.
At first, Kaitlin thought the boy was simply washing his hands, something he “loved” to do. Kaitlin explained: “He took so much care.
“He loved doing his hair, his aftershave, and his teeth brushing. He would go over the top, reports The Mirror.
“He was the most hygienic five-year-old boy who really looked after himself and be handsome,” reports The Mirror.
Lisa decided to go inside to check on him, and within moments, the cheerful atmosphere turned into a scene of horror. Kaitlin remembered those frantic moments: “I just heard the most awful screeching noises I’ve never experienced before.
“And automatically, I just assumed that someone had my mam at knife point in the passage or in the house. When I walked in, my mam had him in her arms, lifeless. He was already dead,” reports The Mirror.
In the brief time it took Kaitlin to follow her mother into the house, Lisa had encountered an unimaginable sight. Karlton was lying still on the floor with the helium balloon—given to him at a fair—covering his face.
According to Kaitlin, her brother wasn’t interested in sweets; he had only wanted the balloon. Tragically, their mother had tried to make it safer by removing the string so it wouldn’t wrap around his neck, reports The Mirror.
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Like many parents, she was unaware of the risks associated with helium. The balloon had been floating, but Karlton managed to climb up to reach it, as any adventurous five-year-old might.
When Lisa found her son, she “immediately” removed the balloon from his face. The shock left her struggling to process what had happened to her beloved child, remembered as a “happy, genuine little boy” by those who knew him, reports The Mirror.
Kaitlin said: “She was in such a state of shock. I don’t think she’d put together what was actually happening. So I picked Karlton up off my mam. I’ve put him on the floor, and I’ve shook his shoulders, and I said, ‘Karlton’, and then I just looked at his face.
“His eyes were wide open. His colour had completely gone, and I knew at that minute he needed CPR,” reports The Mirror.
With her mother overwhelmed and her young daughters unable to help, Kaitlin realised it was up to her to act. Showing remarkable strength, she attempted to call an ambulance, put it on speaker, and begin CPR.
The ambulance arrived within four minutes, but the wait felt agonising. Kaitlin recalled: “The ambulance was taking their time, and they were saying, ‘Is he breathing?’, and I just screamed at them, and I said, ‘He’s not breathing. He’s dead.
“I’m telling you, he’s dead. Like he’s already gone’,” reports The Mirror.
Hearing the distressing cries, a neighbour named Aimee, trained in first aid, rushed in and took over CPR until emergency services arrived. Kaitlin remains deeply grateful for her neighbour’s help, which may have given them a little more time with Karlton.
Karlton was taken to hospital in a critical condition, and Kaitlin had to inform their grandmother while also ensuring her own children were safe. She described the experience as “surreal”, and despite his condition, they hoped the strong young boy would recover, reports The Mirror.
Kaitlin had planned to wait for her other brother to return home before telling him, worried about how he might react while driving. Sadly, neighbours informed him first, expressing condolences before he even knew what had happened. At that point, Karlton was still alive but in a “dangerous situation”.
In the days that followed, Kaitlin stayed hopeful, but it became clear her curious little brother would not recover. The family spent six days with him in hospital, during which he suffered seizures that led to global brain damage, reports The Mirror.
At one stage, Karlton stopped breathing completely while being moved for scans due to a machine malfunction. Kaitlin believes that even in his condition, he could hear them speaking, noting that his heart monitor would spike when certain words were said.
Then the situation worsened further. Toward the end of the fifth day, doctors delivered the news the family had feared most, reports The Mirror.
Kaitlin shared: “They said, ‘You know, there’s really nothing we can do, and it will be kinder to turn the machines off’. Still, I presumed that he would still breathe. I just thought, ‘He’ll do it. He’s only five. He’s strong. He’s healthy’. Prior to all this, he was just such a strong, willing little boy. I thought he would fight it.
“But then we decided to turn the machines off,” reports The Mirror.
Reflecting on her mother’s final moments with Karlton, while the rest of the family waited nearby, Kaitlin said: “She spoke to him, she made him promises. She made sure to clean his hair, and brush his teeth, and wipe his face, and change him into fresh PJs and socks with his aftershave on, and all his teddies,” reports The Mirror.
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