Strangled himself in a test of courage
14-year-old dies in “Blackout” challenge
09/02/2022, 00:15
Choke yourself until you lose consciousness? This is what children and young people do to be part of a life-threatening challenge on Tiktok. The state of fainting in front of the camera is apparently too stimulating. A boy does not survive this “test of courage” – only the most recent tragic case.
A boy from Cumbernauld, Scotland, has died in an internet challenge. 14-year-old Leon Brown was found dead in his room on August 25 by his mother, Lauryn Keating. The teenager had tried the so-called blackout challenge and cut off his breath in front of the camera so that he would lose consciousness. This is reported by the news portal Glasgow Live.
The 14-year-old reportedly suffered fatal brain injuries while attempting to choke himself. His mother decided to go public with it to warn other parents about the deadly trend. The 30-year-old told the Daily Record: “One of Leon’s friends told me he did the challenge on Facetime with him after seeing it on Tiktok. My Leon thought he was the one to try first. Leon and his friends probably thought it was a joke.” Instead of impressing his friends, Leon died before their eyes.
The case is reminiscent of Archie Battersbee: The twelve-year-old Briton also took part in the challenge last April and choked himself so badly that he lost consciousness for more than just a short time. Doctors later pronounced the boy brain dead. After months of litigation with British authorities, all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, life support was finally withdrawn in early August.
Little Archie’s case moved people all over the world. Lauryn Keating also found out about the Southend boy’s tragic accident. “I heard about this challenge because of what happened to Archie,” Leons told theDaily Record“. “You still don’t expect your own child to do that.”