On New Year’s Day many years ago, I received a call from a youth club member telling me that Michael (not his real name, of course) was dead. During the celebrations the night before, he, with others, had sniffed some butane gas – the fuel used in cigarette lighters – and collapsed. It was the first time he had experimented with it. He had died of heart failure, apparently as a result of some congenital heart disorder that the gas had activated. He was 14 years old.
Michael was a relatively new but very regular presence at the youth club. I knew his older brother well. I knew his younger brother a little. I had also got to know his crowd of friends. Michael had been popular with a large number of both boys and girls.
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