‘My life was twisted upside down when she died’
Tiegan Jarman died after partaking in a TikTok trend known as chroming.(Image: Rob Hopkin)
A “loving” Leicestershire teenager died after taking part in a dangerous TikTok trend, leaving her family heartbroken and now determined to ensure others are not left in a similar situation.
Tiegan Jarman, who lived in Thurmaston, was found unresponsive in her bedroom on Thursday, March 6 this year. Emergency services were called to her home and attempted to resuscitate her.
However, the 13-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tiegan’s family told LeicestershireLive that her death came as a result of an online trend called chroming – a form of solvent abuse. Popular on TikTok, chroming involves inhaling toxic fumes from common household items to get a temporary buzz.
Her stepdad, Rob Hopkin, said: “We are not too sure if she had [tried chroming] before as there is no way of tracing it. When it happened she had used at least one can of deodorant.
“She loved her pets – two dogs and a cat, and she loved spending time with her best friend Teigan. They would often spend weekends at each other’s houses.
“She used to enjoy winding her siblings up especially Alisha and she had a laugh that was so infectious and would light up a room. Once you met her you could never forget her and she wanted to follow in her mum Sonia’s footsteps and work at the hospital or be an actress.
Mum Sonia, with her daughter, Tiegan.(Image: Sonia Hopkin)
“Tiegan also loved watching the sunset in the evening. It has been devastating for the whole family and our lives will never be the same again.”
The teen, who also loved wearing false eyelashes, was living with her father, Paul Jarman, at the time of her death. Tiegan used to call her dad “Pookie” and enjoyed helping him cook dinner.
Paul told LeicestershireLive: “She was the most loving, daring girl ever. She was warm, she was funny, she was quirky. She had a great laugh – and she made me laugh.
“My life was twisted upside down when she died, and I have to keep strong and carry on. She used to always call me Pookie. It’s just the funny little stuff. Everytime I’d come home from work, I’d ask her ‘What are we eating tonight?’ and she’d go ‘Dad… I’m thinking… butter chicken’.
“I’d tell her that’d mean we’d have to go to Asda, and she’d just go ‘Yeah, let’s go’. She’d make butter chicken with me in the kitchen – it was just fantastic.”
Tiegan Jarman with her dad, Paul.(Image: Paul Jarman)
Her family are hoping to spread awareness on the dangers of social media and the various trends that can put young people’s lives at risk. Rob said: “It’s hard to feel angry in a strange way because it’s not one individual that has caused this.
“We believe that the social media sites should be better at controlling what’s shown on their sites. They seem to be able to control certain things like pornography, but do not seem that bothered about the trends that can kill instantly.”
Tiegan had three siblings, Brogan, 24, Callum, 17, and a sister Alisha, 18, alongside four step siblings. Alisha has started an online petition in a bid to get the dangers surrounding certain social media trends highlighted as part of a mandatory program taught in schools.
The petition, titled ‘Enforce warnings on solvent products and educate on risks’ on the Change.org website, also hopes to see products that bear risk feature more prominent warning labels regarding misuse of the products.
Tiegan Jarman.(Image: Paul Jarman)
Rob, who lives in Syston, said: “What we all want from the petition Alisha set up is for the warnings on solvents to be more visible, and for it to become the law on deodorant cans to warn specifically about the danger of inhaling.
“Also we would like the dangers of social media and trends – not just chroming but other ones like the black-out challenge – to be taught in schools as a proper subject; not just glossed over.”
