Dangerous TikTok challenge claims next fatality: Teenager (14) chokes himself to death in front of the camera
Created: 2022-09-02 16:07
By: Miriam Haberhauer
A fourteen-year-old boy chokes himself for a TikTok challenge - and dies.
His mother finds him lifeless in his children's room.
Incidents of this kind are increasing.
Cumbernauld - TikTok.
The Chinese video portal was supposed to be a platform for sharing short video clips and lip-synching music videos.
However, a trend that is widespread among young people is currently showing the dark side of the app.
For TikTok Challenge: Fourteen-year-old strangles himself – his friends watched him
Inspired by the "Blackout Challenge," the fourteen-year-old called his friends on Facetime.
As
DailyRecord
reports, they then watched him choke himself.
It was all supposed to be fun.
Instead, his friends watched as he passed out and never woke up.
His mother found his lifeless body in the children's room a little later.
She told the Scottish newspaper: "He was a class clown and always made people laugh." That's probably why he wanted to try the challenge first.
His friends, who witnessed the incident via video call, later told the distraught mother what he had done.
The deadly challenge encourages users to choke themselves until they pass out.
The low oxygen levels in the brain can then lead to seizures, severe brain injuries or even death.
"You don't expect your own child to participate" - mother appeals to other parents
The thirty-year-old mother was already familiar with the challenge.
"I heard about this challenge because of what happened with Archie Battersbee," she told
DailyRecord.
The twelve-year-old also took part in the TikTok challenge.
He suffered severe brain injuries and fell into a coma.
His parents fought in vain to keep the machines running.
"You just don't expect your own child to participate," the young woman continues.
She appeals to other parents: "Please warn your children, these challenges are not worth their lives.
They're not worth likes or whatever they're doing that for."
14-year-old dies after TikTok challenge
It is not the first case of its kind. © picture alliance/Fabian Sommer
TikTok apologizes – and refers to security measures
TikTok expressed its deepest condolences to the affected family.
The company stressed that user safety is very important to him and that "posts of this nature are prohibited on the platform and will be deleted".
According to a spokesman for the video platform, when users search for the "blackout challenge," they are redirected to the app's security center.
The case of the Scottish boy is not the first of its kind. After the incidents in connection with the "Blackout Challenge" accumulate, TikTok will probably have to answer for it in court in the USA.
(mlh)