Mum dies at daughter's birthday party after helium balloon stunt goes wrong

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A mother's harmless prank at her daughter's first birthday party tragically resulted in her death. Faith Waterman Batistich, a 20 year old from Te Puke, New Zealand, decided to participate in the traditional birthday stunt of inhaling helium to alter her voice's pitch along with other party guests.Despite attempts by her family to revive her, she was declared dead an hour after inhaling the gas.

Her twin sister Eden, who is left heartbroken, shared that party attendees had been inhaling the gas from a canister used to inflate balloons, with everyone "jumping on the bandwagon".A fatal error occurred when a fellow guest increased the flow from the canister as Faith was inhaling directly from it.

Recalling her sister's final moments, Eden told the New Zealand Herald that the mood at the party was light-hearted, with people finding the altered voices amusing.She said her sister initially hesitated but eventually joined in after a guest encouraged her.

However, when one guest turned up the flow from the helium canister, it "shot" its contents into the back of her neck. Eden recounted: "It went too fast and kind of shot her in the back of the neck.