'All because she huffed out of a can': Teen dies doing 'dusting' trend

TEMPE, Ariz. — The parents of a 19-year-old Tempe woman are warning other parents of a dangerous trend after their daughter died from inhaling chemicals from an aerosol can.

Aaron and Dana O’Rourke describe their daughter, Renna Kay O’Rourke, as a vibrant and vivacious girl.

“She was just the light of my life,” Aaron O’Rourke said.

She loved to sing and filled every room with smiles and laughter.

“She was just the most caring, beautiful soul I’ve ever, ever known,” Dana O’Rourke said.

But, on May 27 their world flipped upside down.

Renna went into cardiac arrest and was later declared brain dead after inhaling a common household cleaner.

“We want to make sure that we use our tragedy so that no other parent has to experience looking at their child on life support and a ventilator and not breathing on her own all because she huffed out of a can,” Dana O’Rourke said.

It’s called dusting, a trend in which people get high by inhaling aerosol dusters, such as keyboard cleaner.

According to Poison Control, most inhalant abusers are teenagers, likely because the products are easily accessible.

“My daughter and her boyfriend had Door Dashed product to my house and I didn’t know. It’s keyboard cleaner. I didn’t know what they were doing with it,” Dana O’Rourke said.

Experts warn the chemicals in aerosol sprays can lead to heart failure within minutes.

“It’s not a matter of if, it will be a matter of when,” Dana O’Rourke said.

Renna’s parents are finding a light in all of this darkness. She is an organ donor and will save at least six lives.

“Through that we’re finding strength and purpose,” Dana O’Rourke said. “We’ve been told that her heart is going to a recipient in California, which is kind of beautiful, because she was ultimately wanting to move to California. So, in a way her heart is taking her there.”

The O’Rourkes said Renna’s memory will live with them forever, but they hope her legacy prevents future deaths from this dangerous trend. 

“She will be unbelievably missed, leaving the most aching hole in our lives, but if her life is to mean anything, we are going to do what we can to prevent somebody else’s child from being where ours is right now,” Dana O’Rourke said.

Tempe Police told 12News their department is investigating Renna’s death.

A GoFundMe page was created to help the O’Rourke family pay for memorial expenses. Click here to donate.