`JUST ONE SNIFF AND I COLLAPSED'.

This week we heard from Sally, a 13-year-old girl who admitted to dabbling in solvents - and who had a lucky escape.

She said: "I went round with a group of friends and one evening we were messing about at a friend's house when his parents were out. It was a bit boring, and one of the gang got a can of deodorant and suggested we each had a sniff to get high.

"Everyone inhaled and some said they felt weird, like being drunk. When it was my turn I took a large breath and immediately felt sick.

"I ran to the toilet but the last thing I remember is collapsing on the landing. My mates called an ambulance and when I came round at the hospital the doctor said I'd been very lucky. Sniffing aerosols can kill at the first attempt and some people's hearts are affected, he said.

"My mum had a right go but I carried on sniffing a few times before realising it wasn't for me. Then I started drinking - but not much.

"Some of the gang carried on doing solvents for a while."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.