‘Amazing’ girl, 16, collapses and dies after inhaling laughing gas at house party

Kayleigh Burns’s family is calling for tighter restrictions on the sale of nitrous oxide after death of ‘amazing’ teenager

The family of Kayleigh Burns are calling for tighter restrictions on the sale of the drug (Kayleigh Burns/Facebook)

The family of a 16-year-old girl who died after inhaling laughing gas at a party is calling for tighter restrictions on the sale of the drug.

Kayleigh Burns collapsed at a house in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, just moments after she was filmed inhaling nitrous oxide.

The asthmatic teenager, who was just weeks away from turning 17, was taken to hospital by ambulance but later died.

Kayleigh’s family first learned of what happened when her sister Clare Baker, 31, received a message from one of her friends informing her the youngster had been taken to hospital.

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Ms Baker, from Liverpool, contacted hospitals in the area in a desperate bid to find her sister but police officers later arrived at her home and informed her Kayleigh had died.

She told the Liverpool Echo: “She was the most amazing little girl ever. The bond that we had, I can’t even describe.

“Kayleigh grew up and had a good childhood and she was in a loving family. As she grew older, she got mixed up with the wrong sort of people.

"She was interested in make-up and fashion and wanted to travel the world. She wanted to be an air hostess or work on the cruises and her life was taken away from her."

Ms Baker told the newspaper her younger sister had moved to Coventry to live with her girlfriend before moving to Leamington Spa but returned to visit her family a week before her death.

Kayleigh’s family were sent videos of her inhaling nitrous oxide at the party, according to the Liverpool Echo.

The teenager reportedly later complained of feeling “too hot” before she collapsed.

Empty nitrous oxide cannisters are a common sight on many UK streets (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Her sister is now calling for tighter curbs on the sale of nitrous oxide to young people in the UK – and has warned other teenagers of the risks involved in taking the drug.

Ms Baker told the Liverpool Echo: "I want people to think about what they are taking before they take it because they’re going to leave people behind who love them.

"I want it to be banned. They have upped the legal age of buying it in America today to 21. I know people use it in the food industry, but I think there should be some sort of ID card or at least an age requirement.

"I don’t want this to happen to anybody else. We have lost our Kayleigh forever now."

Warwickshire Police said Kayleigh’s death was not being treated as suspicious and a file has been handed to the coroner.

The force said in a statement: “We were called by the ambulance service at 11.08pm on 3 June to a property on Drayton Avenue, Stratford-upon-Avon.

“A 16-year-old girl was taken to hospital, where she sadly later died.

“Officers informed and supported the family alongside conducting an investigation into the circumstances of this tragic death.

“The death is not currently being treated as suspicious and a file has been passed to the coroner.”