His death must not be in vain (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

His death must not be in vain

Ref. 28959-42Family of boy who died after sniffing deodorant launch a campaign to save other young lives.

GARY Perring's tragic death after inhaling deodorant may have already saved two lives, his family believes.

When the 13-year-old was buried last week, his grandfather launched a campaign to try to prevent other youngsters from dying as a result of substance abuse.

Already two children who knew him have approached his aunt, Julie Southgate, and confessed they had inhaled from aerosols. "They knew it wasn't illegal and they said they thought it was what everyone did. But when Gary died they decided they weren't going to do it any more," she said.

Those two are just the tip of what Mrs Southgate and Gary's grandfather, Larry Perring, believe amounts to an iceberg.

Now, with the help of the Evening Advertiser and a national charity, they intend to ensure that his death has the same impact on as many children as they can reach.

"I will travel the length and breadth of the country if I have to," said Mr Perring. "I don't want any other parents or grandparents to go through what we have gone through."

Mrs Southgate said: "We aren't kidding ourselves we know there will be some who think they are invincible and nothing will happen to them, but if we can get the information to them, then at least they can make up their own minds and we will get through to some children."

The fledgling campaign was boosted this week when Solve-It, a national charity set up by a mother who lost her son to substance abuse, saw the Advertiser's story and offered to provide training and advice.

"It is going to be a real help to us," said Mr Perring.

He is currently arranging for posters of Gary, detailing what happened to him, to be sent out to headteachers in the hope that they will appear on school notice boards.

According to Solve-It's statistics, an average of five young people die in the UK every month due to volatile substance abuse (VSA).

Gary, who lived with his grandparents in Washpool, West Swindon, became part of that grim statistic when he inhaled deodorant and died within minutes.

In 2000, VSA accounted for seven times more deaths than ecstasy. At the same time more than 39 per cent of deaths happened where there was no previous evidence of abuse. The horrifying fact is that even at the tender age of 13, Gary was not the youngest to die.

The youngest recorded by St George's Hospital Medical School, who have been collating data since 1971, was just seven years old. At least two nine-year-olds, four children aged 10, seven 11-year-olds and 25 aged 12 have also died.

Mr Perring believes there is a chance Gary could have been making his first experiment if he was not there was no real way they could have known because symptoms are few and far between.

But there is one aspect about which he is adamant. "He must have learned about it from somewhere. Someone must have shown him what to do. If we had been aware if he had been aware of what it could do it just wouldn't have happened.

"He knew all about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. He used to tell me what was in them and what they did. He promised me he would never touch drugs. He even used to get on at me for smoking."

Gary's aunt added: "I think it was an opportunity for him. We were getting ready to go out in half an hour. He sprayed under his arms, got an idea and took the opportunity. That is what I think happened."

Like many carers and parents, Mr Perring and Mrs Southgate believed solvent and aerosol abuse was something that belonged to the 1980s.

And it is true that a huge advertising campaign at the end of that decade, when the number of deaths peaked at 152, was followed by a rapid fall in the number of deaths associated with VSA. But statistics show children are still dying at a rate of at least one a week.

"A lot of people do believe it is a fad of the 80s that has gone away," said Steve Lambert, of Solve-It. While problems with drug and alcohol abuse among youngsters received a lot of attention, solvent and gas abuse had dropped beneath the public's radar.

In fact, because of the availability of substances like aerosols, cleaning fluids and glues in most households, abuse could be going on without anyone knowing. Mr Lambert said: "Users are often very secretive and it lends itself to secrecy by the very fact that these things don't look out of place in the home and they are very easily obtained."

It means a parent finding a couple of deodorant cans in their son's bedroom has to wonder whether there is more to it than merely a young man taking care of his hygiene.

Gary was proof that substance abuse is not limited to children struggling to cope with social, emotional or behavioural problems.

His family remember him as a loving boy, who had the capacity to make the people around him happy. When he went to bed each night he kissed his "Gramps" and when he said goodbye to his aunt he would always give her a hug. Mr Perring said: "For a 13-year-old boy he was very, very affectionate, and when he cuddled you, you knew he meant it."

The grief caused by his death is only partly helped by the campaign. The family had been planning to go on holiday to Portugal in May and Gary could hardly wait.

"It was for Gary everywhere we went was for Gary," said his grandfather. "I didn't really want to go, but he talked me round. There was going to be loads of swimming, which he loved."

It is those memories, along with the horror and pain of his death, which they intend to take into the classroom in the hope that a grieving family will be able to prevent even one curious youngster making a fatal mistake.

Tina Clarke