Faith Waterman Batistich, from Te Puke in New Zealand, died after a guest at her daughter’s birthday bash made a deadly mistake during a not uncommon party activity
A mum’s innocent stunt at her daughter’s first birthday party ended in disaster after she tragically died.
Faith Waterman Batistich decided to take part in a time-honoured birthday stunt to celebrate the birthday of her young daughter along other party guests by breathing in helium to raise her voice’s pitch. The 20-year-old from Te Puke, New Zealand, was pronounced dead just an hour after breathing in the gas, despite her desperate family members’ attempts to revive her.
Eden, her devastated twin sister has told how party guests had been taking in the gas after inflating balloons from a canister, with everyone “jumping on the bandwagon”. Faith died following a fatal mistake by a fellow party guest while inhaling the gas directly from the canister, with Eden remembering her haunting last words.
Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Eden said the mood at the party was upbeat, with people inhaling the gas and saying “oh, that’s so funny”. She added that her sister joined in after being initially reluctant to do so, but joined in, taking air from the canister after a guest suggested she join in.
But one guest decided to turn up the flow from the canister as she joined in, “shooting” its contents into the back of her neck. Eden said: “It went too fast and kind of shot her in the back of the neck. Her last words were literally, ‘Oh s***!”‘ To her horror, Faith “went blue instantly”.
Eden said: “I was just, like, in shock. I kind of just froze and it was like, ‘what the f***, what am I seeing? Like, is this for real?’ I thought she was putting it on at the start”. The twins’ mum Diane Waterman and her cousin spent 45 minutes trying to resuscitate the young mum as they awaited emergency services.
Paramedics were unable to revive Faith. Eden has remembered her “bright and bubbly, just happy. Loud and obnoxious” sister, and officials have reminded the public of the inherent danger of inhaling helium. Coroner Louella Dunn found the 20-year-old was “unaware of the inherent dangers of inhaling helium” and said doing so is “potentially life-threatening”.
Helium can displace oxygen in the lungs if inhaled in significant amounts, causing low blood oxygen and eventually hypoxia, a life-threatening condition. Coroner Dunn said: “These threats are heightened when inhaling pressurised helium from a cylinder/canister given the amount that can enter the body due to the pressurised gas.”