A saddened mother has described how her son died while trying a lethal TikTok choking challenge in the presence of his buddies.
In Scotland’s Cumbernauld, 14-year-old Leon Brown was discovered unconscious in his bedroom after allegedly attempting the same risky TikTok trend as Archie Battersbee.
After hearing from her son’s buddy that he had wanted to recreate the choking game after watching it on the video-sharing app, the distressed mother, Lauryn Keating, issued a warning to other parents.
She says that when the tragedy happened and the child lost his life, his friends were witnessing him do the challenge on Facetime.
‘One of Leon’s friends told me he had been doing the challenge on Facetime with them after seeing it on TikTok,’ the mother said.
‘Him and his friends probably thought it was a laugh and a joke. But Leon didn’t come back around. It went horribly wrong.
‘I had heard of this challenge, because of what happened to Archie. But you don’t expect your own child to do it.
‘Please warn them, these online challenges aren’t worth their lives. They aren’t worth ‘likes’ or whatever they’re doing it for.’
My son, 14, died doing the same viral challenge that killed Archie Battersbee – I’m heartbrokenhttps://t.co/K12JdCLtpZ pic.twitter.com/iqYFvWboQe
— Elysia (@TrngHon06993746) September 2, 2022
Last week, Leon’s friends and family came together to release balloons to honor him. They are hoping that Celtic supporters would give the young boy a standing ovation at their upcoming home game.
Following the schoolboy’s passing, the club’s illustrious uniform—signed by his friends—was left placed on a railing in their neighborhood park.
Later, Ms. Keating claimed that she was astounded to discover that there are a wealth of video marketing activities that include choking challenges on Tiktok.
‘I went on TikTok and wrote out words similar to blackout challenge. The amount of video results that came up on it is ridiculous,’ the mother said.
The Chinese-owned video-sharing app claims to have taken down clips of the “Blackout Game” from its site and to have put safeguards in place to stop users from spreading or looking up the trend.
A representative for TikTok expressed: ‘Our deepest sympathies go out to Leon Brown’s family during this incredibly difficult time.’
‘Content of this nature is prohibited on our platform and would be removed if found.’
Leon’s passing occurs only a few weeks after Archie Battersbee’s life support was turned off after a drawn-out court dispute because the kid purportedly tried the “Blackout Challenge” as well.
Archie Battersbee’s family lose new bid to delay withdrawing life support – as European court ‘will not interfere’ with UK decisionshttps://t.co/nS0O97Rhnj
— Elysia (@TrngHon06993746) September 2, 2022
This social media craze, which encourages users to suffocate, pass out, and then recover consciousness while being filmed, has been connected to the deaths of scores of kids in the US.