A 10-year-old girl has become the latest victim of a deadly trend on social media dubbed the ‘Blackout Challenge’.
Tawainna Anderson found her daughter Nylah unconscious in her bedroom at their home in Chester, Pennsylvania, after she had attempted the dangerous dare, which involves those who take part holding their breath until they pass out.
The little girl was rushed to hospital on December 12, but sadly died the same day.
Her grieving mum told ABC13: ‘I’m so hurt. This is a pain that won’t go away. It’s at the top of my throat. I am so hurt.
‘She was a butterfly, she was everything, she was a happy child.
Now, Ms Anderson has issued an emotional warning to other parents to monitor their children’s phones as ‘you never know what you might find’.
‘You wouldn’t think 10-year-olds would try this’, she said. ‘They’re trying because they’re kids and they don’t know better.’
Elizabeth Woods, a social worker from the local hospital in Chester, told the news station that Nylah had been alone in her room so ‘there was no one there to save her’.
This is the latest death linked with the extremely dangerous challenge, also named ‘the fainting game,’ ‘game of choking’ or ‘speed dreaming’.
The tragedy comes nearly a year after Italian authorities temporarily blocked TikTok accounts who could not be age-verified after a 10-year-old girl in Palermo died when attempting the same challenge.
It is unclear whether Nylah also stumbled on the dare on the video-sharing app.
In a statement to the Independent, a spokesperson for TikTok said it had no evidence of a ‘Blackout Challenge’ on its site.
However, after a quick search, Metro.co.uk found several trends relating to a game where users are challenged to hold their breath sometimes for more than a minute, and many hashtags leading to similar concerning content.
Metro.co.uk has contacted the social media app for a comment.
