Japanese pop singer in coma after inhaling helium in TV stunt
Date February 6, 2015 - 5:50AM
A 12-year-old member of 3B Junior is in a coma after a TV stunt went wrong. Photo: www.3bjr.com
A 12-year-old member of a Japanese pop group has lapsed into a coma after inhaling helium for a stunt on a television show.
The girl is part of 3B Junior, a 25-strong collective of 10-to-16-year-olds, and was one of five youngsters taking part in the recording of a variety show on January 28, a spokesman for TV Asahi said on Thursday.
She was inhaling helium from a canister as part of a game that involved changing her voice, when she fell unconscious.
She was taken to a Tokyo hospital, where local media reported she was found to have suffered an embolism in the blood supply to her brain.
"There are signs of recovery but she is still not fully fit," the Asahi spokesman told news agency said Thursday.
Despite her public status, her name was not revealed because she is a minor.
TV Asahi has apologised for the incident and says an internal inquiry is under way.
The canister from which she inhaled the gas was marked for adult use only, the channel said.
Local media said police had also launched an investigation on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in injury.
In the psychedelic bubblegum world of Japanese television, hundreds of largely talent-free celebrities compete for airtime on shows that sometimes involve dangerous or humiliating tasks.
In 2012 a popular comedian broke his back when he jumped into a swimming pool as part of a program.
Inhaling helium is a common party trick but previous deaths have been recorded. The UK's Public Health Agency warns that "breathing in helium ... deprives vital organs of essential oxygen" and can cause "dizziness, headache and suffocation".
AFP
