A mum has issued a “don’t buy” warning after her eight-year-old son was discovered lifeless in his bedroom. Joshua Dunbar was found with an oversized helium balloon, that was shaped like the number eight, covering his head at around 2pm on April 27 last year in his Birkenhead home. He was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital by emergency responders, but died at 7.23pm that same day. Now, Joshua’s mother has said that her son will be “deeply loved and missed”, adding that “he will forever be in our hearts and his memory will live on through us all”.
Carly then issued a plea to parents: “Joshua was one of a kind with the brightest blue eyes and the cheekiest smile; he loved to give all his friends hugs. I would never want another parent, family, to suffer the loss of their child in the most tragic way we have. So please listen when I say don’t buy helium balloons.
“Your whole world can change within minutes, literally. They destroy lives and they take lives.”
A post-mortem examination found that Joshua’s death was due to “consistent with asphyxia involving a helium balloon”.
The Liverpool Echo reported that Carly added in a statement: “Before we lost our son I was very outgoing, very sociable, loads of fun, a good time to be around. I loved spending time with my friends, I loved spending time with my family. I loved saying to the kids ‘let’s go’. Going on adventures, going to watch the sunset, going for a run down the beach. Putting the music on, dancing and singing with that.
“That’s how we were. We were a big happy family of six, and I always said we might not have it all together, but together we have it all, and that’s what we went by.
“The day that our son was taken from us, a big part of me went with. My heart was just absolutely broken into pieces, never ever to be mended. Now I’m like a totally different person. I don’t know myself any more.”
She added: “If one, two, three people stop and think and take onboard what I’m saying and don’t buy a helium balloon, that’s one child death being prevented.
“That’s what it’s all about, preventing it happening to another child and the only way to do that is to stop buying helium balloons. Just buy the air ones – they look just as nice.”
During an inquest on April 24, coroner Andre Rebello said: “Helium is not poisonous. What has happened is helium has displaced the available air to breathe, and that is what has caused Joshua’s death.
“The breathing of helium prevented oxygen getting into his body, and without oxygen, within minutes life is not achievable. This was a most tragic day, because it started as a celebration.
“I understand that on April 27, just before 2pm, the North West Ambulance Service advised the police that Joshua was in cardiac arrest at his home address. CPR was in process and Joshua had been found unresponsive in his bedroom.”
He added: “When the incident occurred only Joshua was present and there’s no evidence whatsoever that Joshua would have known of the fatal effects of such an action.
“Anyone with a heart would speculate as to what he was doing. It may be he was unaware as to the fact that there was no air within the balloon, or it may be that he was trying to see the helium passing over his vocal cords to change his voice. I don’t know. Nobody knows.
“There’s certainly no evidence this was an intentional act. He was a little boy in his room playing, and tragically it had fatal consequences.”
He concluded the eight year old’s death was “the most tragic of accidents”. Addressing Joshua’s parents, he said: “What you have been through these past 12 months are a parent’s worst nightmare. All your hopes, aspirations and plans completely changed and I don’t know if anybody can even half imagine what you have been through.”