a tragic story

[Guest guest]

This was posted on the UK Alpha1 support group site.

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Secret smoker, 14, killed by spray to hide the smell

A SCHOOLGIRL has died after spraying herself with a

fabric deodorant in the

bathroom of her family home to hide the smell of

cigarettes.

Helen Coffey, 14, who had been smoking in the

bathroom, collapsed as she

used a can of Deofab to spray her clothes. She died a

week later in

hospital.

Her family said the aerosol spray in the confined

space had made her choke

and caused a hemorrhage in her throat.

Her mother, Agnes, 46, said: ``She sprayed it all over

her clothes, the room

and on her hands. She accidentally inhaled it and

that's how she died.''

Mrs. Coffey added: ``She had a rebellious streak, just

like all teenagers.

That's why she used to smoke. I begged her not to but

she carried on doing

it in secret.

``Now of course I wish I'd let her puff away in front

of me. At least she

would be alive today. She was a wonderful, kind

girl.''

Mrs. Coffey bought the Deofab to freshen up the family

home in Rumney,

Cardiff. ``I had no idea that Helen would use it to

try to disguise the

smell of smoke,'' she said.

``I don't want this to happen to another family.''

The Cardiff coroner, DR Lawrence Addicott, opened and

adjourned an inquest

until a later date.

The Deofab manufacturers MSG, of Richmond, London,

said: ``It is not a

personal deodorant and carries a safety warning in the

instructions.

``It's the world's number one deodorizer and is

manufactured to UK

standards. It is perfectly safe to use in normal circumstances.''

soft ocean breezes

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