Jamie and Carly Dunbar bought their son Joshua a helium balloon for his 8th birthday — but he tragically died after inhaling the balloon in his room
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Parents-son-dies-helium-balloon-052026-e85f689604bb40c9b800fd33c066b46e.jpg "Parents Buy Their Son a Helium Balloon for His 8th Birthday. When He's Left Alone, He Accidentally Inhales It and Dies")
Credit: This Morning/YouTube
NEED TO KNOW
- Jamie and Carly Dunbar are raising awareness about the dangers of helium balloons after their son’s tragic death
- The couple shared their story on This Morning to warn other parents about the potential risks of helium balloons
- They hope to stop the sale of helium balloons or at least educate others about their hidden dangers
Jamie and Carly Dunbar gifted their son Joshua a helium balloon on his birthday, but the celebration turned into a nightmare when he accidentally died after inhaling the balloon.
The couple, who appeared on a Wednesday, May 20 episode of This Morning, shared that in honor of their son's big day, they bought him a foil helium balloon in the shape of the number 8. When they got home, Joshua brought the balloon up into his room.
“He wanted some quiet time in his room cause he liked quiet time, didn’t he? So he went up to his room,” said Jamie.
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“He took the balloon up to his room with him,” added Carly.
Carly went up to check on her son and had a "little chat" with him. She remembered that he was sitting up on his bed with the balloon, watching TV calmly.
"I told him his dad would be up, and we’re going to put all his presents away. And then his dad came up literally minutes later,” continued Carly.
“And then [I came] up and found him. At first, I’d seen the balloon half deflated," said Jamie. "It took me a split second to realize Joshua was lying down with the balloon over his head. So I had to get him off his bed and physically rip the balloon off him."
Credit: Getty
Carly remembered the pain of finding her son, calling it "raw" when she heard her husband's panicked screams.
"I just, you know, when you have that feeling as a parent. And I just feel that that scream will never leave me," she said. "And I’ve run in the bedroom, and I’ve just seen Joshua quite, well, lifeless. I’ve just panicked and ran outside, screaming at the neighbors for help.”
When the ambulance arrived at their house, paramedics came in and tried to resuscitate Joshua. “I had to do CPR till the ambulance came,” said Jamie.
Joshua was then taken to a hospital. Doctors and nurses continued CPR on him there, but unfortunately, they couldn't save him.
Credit: Getty
The way Joshua died is still a bit of a mystery to Carly and Jamie. The couple shared that they have a theory as to what happened.
“So we don’t know exactly how the balloon has managed to get over his head, but from the manner where he was sitting in his room, he was nice and calm. It was just next to him. He was watching TV. It sort of came to the conclusion that he…bit it…sort of thing," explained Carly. "And that’s when the helium replaced the oxygen.”
“And then knocked him deeply unconscious, which then allowed the foil bloom to cover his head," she added.
Now, Carly and Jamie are trying to raise awareness about the dangers of helium balloons. Their ultimate goal is to stop the sale of all helium balloons.
“But we just want to get it out there, the message, the awareness, even if that doesn’t happen, to make people aware that the dangers of them. Because we never knew," said Jamie. "We’d always bought balloons for our other children’s birthdays before."