A viral TikTok challenge has taken the life of a child.
10-year-old Nyla Anderson from Chester, Pennsylvania took part in the Blackout Challenge when she saw it on the social app.
The Blackout Challenge dares participants to hold their breath until they pass out. The challenge predates social media but has found a resurgence on TikTok. Sadly, it wasn’t the first time this challenge has ended in death.
Nyla, she was alone when she died, Elizabeth Wood, a licensed clinical social worker at a local hospital, told ABC 7 News: “She happened to be in her own bedroom of her house, with her family at home,” . “But no one was in the bedroom with her when this happened, so there was no one there to save her.”
Nyla’s family rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late.
Nyla is the fifth child who has died from doing the Blackout Challenge in 2021. According to The New York Post, several children have died, including 9-year-old LaTerius Smith Jr., a 12-year-old from Oklahoma, a 10-year-old Italian girl, and 12-year-old Joshua Haileyesus from Colorado.
The Blackout Challenge has been around since the ‘90s, previously referred to as ‘the choke challenge’ or ‘the fainting game’, The New York Post reported. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 1995 to 2007 there were 82 probable choking deaths caused by the ‘choking game.’
