Tears have flowed in the Byron Bay Courthouse as a grieving mother told a coronial inquest her son's chroming-related death was a "preventable tragedy".
Bradley Hope, 16, died after inhaling aerosol deodorant during a sleepover at a friend's house at Tweed Heads during December 2019.
There is broad agreement about the circumstances surrounding his death, but his mother, Corinne Mair, lobbied for an inquest in a bid to "stop another young life like Bradley's being lost".
She broke down in tears while reading the family's statement to the court.
"I have felt no greater pain than when his heart stopped beating and mine went on," Ms Mair said.
"My son made an uneducated decision and it cost him his life."
Ms Mair said participating in the inquest was "difficult but necessary".
"If just one additional life is saved, then this process is worth it," she said.
'There must be solutions'
The inquest heard that chroming, known in medical circles as Volatile Substance Misuse (VSM) could involve a range of "ubiquitous" products only linked by the way they were administered.
A court order has been issued to prevent publication of the specific techniques and products used by people engaged in the risky behaviour, or discussion of the effects they were seeking.
Earlier this week the inquest heard VSM had killed more than a dozen young Australians since 2009.
Ms Mair said the manufacturer of the product used by her son had a "duty of care to the Australian public and to its customers to prevent any loss of life, especially that of a child".
"We can't, as a society, afford to lose one more young life in this way," she said.
"There must be answers or solutions to prevent that."
The NSW Coroner is due to deliver her findings in March next year.
