A terrible story that stirs England. Archie Battersbee, 12-year-old boy, brain dead and on life support since April, was to be disconnected on Wednesday, against his parents’ wishes. The latter lodged a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights, a few hours before the cessation of treatment which was to take place at 11 a.m. local time.
At the origin of the hospitalization of the boy, an incident linked to the Blackout challenge, according to his mother. Archie suffered a brain injury at his home in April, and hasn’t regained consciousness since. The Blackout challenge is one of those “challenges” that abound on TikTok. “A challenge” which consists of holding your breath as long as possible until you faint.
A variant of the scarf game known to young teenagers for years, consisting of voluntary strangulation, but the challenge has taken off on the social network in recent months. The goal is to obtain euphoric sensations, but stopping the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain can cause important health consequences: such as the destruction of brain cells, resulting in impaired neurological function, which can lead to lifelong mental disability or even death. According to The Independent, 82 deaths of teenagers or children would have died around the world.
Fin 2021, two American girls aged 8 and 9 have died after self-suffocation. Parents filed a complaint against TikTok last July, accusing the platform of having led their children to participate in this dangerous game.
This is not the first time that TikTok has been singled out for the dangerous “challenges” that are conveyed there, like the Labello challenge that encouraged people to hurt themselves or even commit suicide. In 2021, the “milk crate challenge” which encouraged users to climb crates of milk led to a series of injuries, doctors had warned. In 2020, the Benadryl challenge (taking a large amount of anti-histamines in an attempt to produce hallucinogenic effects) led to the death of a 15-year-old girl. Or the “Skull Breaker” challenge, the challenge of the broken skull.