Dublin teen sent video of himself inhaling aerosols a year before he died from fumes, inquest hears

The parents of a Dublin teenager who collapsed and died within two hours of inhaling the contents of an aerosol deodorant last year have called for greater awareness among young people of the dangers of such products.Daniel Maguire (14) from Ashfield Grove, Huntstown, Dublin 15, suffered fatal injuries to his heart after being discovered unresponsive in the bedroom of his home at around 11pm on September 27th, 2025.He was formally pronounced dead at Children’s Health Ireland in Temple Street, Dublin, at 12.40am the following morning.Speaking after an inquest into his death at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, Daniel’s parents Yvonne and Dermot Maguire welcomed information they received this week that raising awareness about the dangers of solvents and “fast gas” is going to become part of the Junior Certificate curriculum.READ MORE“We just want teenagers talking about this to each other because they don’t listen to their parents,” said Dermot Maguire.The couple, who have been campaigning on the issue since their son’s death, have also called for more warning labels on aerosol containers.The inquest heard Daniel had gone to the gym and played soccer earlier that day after having a half-day at Hartstown Community College, where he was a third year student.Dermot Maguire gave evidence that his son had been “in great spirits” and was “laughing and joking around” after he had got home.He said the last time he spoke to his son was when Daniel went upstairs to his room, saying goodnight after the family had eaten a takeaway dinner together.At around 11pm, he shouted up to see if his son had the keys for the front door when he was locking up the house.Dermot Maguire with his wife Yvonne and sons Adam and Andrew at the inquest. Photograph: Collins Courts Maguire said his son replied “yes, Dad”, but then there was silence when he asked for the keys to be thrown down. The inquest heard he went to Daniel’s bedroom and found him collapsed between a desk and chair.In reply to questions from coroner Cróna Gallagher, Dermot Maguire said: “I knew straight away what was happening”, as he had discovered an aerosol can and a sock in his son’s bedroom.The inquest heard Daniel had previously sent a video of himself inhaling aerosols in his bedroom to a friend on Snapchat in June 2024.On learning of the video, Dermot Maguire said his wife had immediately brought their son to their GP, where the seriousness of inhaling aerosols was explained to him.Yvonne Maguire said Daniel was very upset, teary and regretful about the incident and remembered her son claimed it had been the first time he had inhaled an aerosol.She agreed with the coroner that he would have been aware that he was under parental surveillance after what had happened, but she was satisfied that there was no evidence of any long-term use of aerosols by her son.In reply to further questions, Dermot Maguire said his son was happy in school, was “very fit and healthy”, regularly participated in football and MMA and went to the gym.He said they did not know why Daniel had inhaled aerosol deodorant on the night of the fatal incident.“Everything was normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary,” he said. He surmised it might have been a TikTok challenge, a dare or just being curious.However, Maguire said they had spoken openly to Daniel’s friends following his death and inhaling aerosols was not something they did.They had checked his son’s mobile phone following his death, but it had also contained “nothing unusual”.The inquest heard that an examination of Daniel’s medical records showed no evidence of any underlying physical or mental health issues.Dr Gallagher said the results of a postmortem showed the presence of butane and propane in the teenager’s blood. The coroner said they are volatile substances which are commonly found in aerosol containers as propellants.She noted that they can result in sudden death “even in small doses” either by asphyxia or by causing irregular cardiac rhythms.Dr Gallagher confirmed no alcohol or other drugs were detected in the teenager’s body and attributed the cause of death to “cardiac toxicity due to inhalation of butane and propane”.Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, the coroner observed that the circumstances of the case should act as a warning about inhaling the contents of aerosol containers, which she noted is “an inherently dangerous thing to do”.Offering her condolences to the deceased’s family, Dr Gallagher said: “I’m very sorry that you have lost your precious son, brother and friend in this very tragic manner.”