CHINA - 2022/07/25: In this photo illustration, the Chinese video-sharing social networking service company TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A 12-year-old Argentinian girl died this week after parking in the deadly and viral “choking challenge,” a trend made popular on the social media video sharing app TikTok.
Her death is one of several high-profile cases of children dying from attempting to choke themselves to the point of blacking out.
Milagros Soto died on January 13 in the city of Capitán Bermudez, Santa Fe Province, according to family members, who said they were “inconsolable” and added they “gave her so much love.”
“We are inconsolable [because] we gave her so much love,” the victim’s aunt Laura Luque told Jam Press of the tragedy.
Soto’s body was discovered in her home after allegedly participating in the viral TikTok “choking” or “blackout challenge.” The little girl was found hanging from a makeshift noose, local outlet El Litoral reported.
The trend – one of many viral social media challenges, encourages clout-seekers to literally asphyxiate themselves until the point of passing out.
Medical experts warn that the dangerous viral trend can result in fainting, brain damage, seizures and even death.
Soto is among a number of children who have died during a TikTok challenge. Over the summer, UK youths Leon Brown, 14 and Archie Battersbee, 12, all reportedly died due to the same viral trend, The Shade Room previously reported.
Leon’s mother, Lauryn Keating, told the Daily Record that she discovered her son’s lifeless body in his room at their Cumbernauld home on August 25.
Over the summer, the Social Media Victims Law Center – a legal resource for relatives of children harmed by social media – announced it filed two wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of two similarly devastated parents.
Unilad reports that both 8-year-old Lalani Erika from Texas and 9-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo from Wisconsin died after taking part in the “blackout challenge”
In September, The Shade Room reported on another TikTok challenge, wherein participants endure the incredibly spicy “One Chip Challenge,” which packs such a punch that it’s sending people to the hospital.
The challenge is an ongoing dare put forth by Paqui, the flavored tortilla chip company behind the viral trend.
This year’s “One Chip Challenge” features the notorious Carolina Reaper Chip, long considered to be the hottest pepper in the world at 1,641,183 Scoville units.
Health officials and medical experts have called the trend dangerous after it sent many to the hospital – including children – in excruciating pain.
One TikToker, @angela_b157, posted a now-viral video showing her niece hospitalized after participating in the challenge, which has garnered nearly 20 million views as of this article’s publication.
Also in September, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the public against using over the counter drugs to cook food after a TikToker posted a video using NyQuil to cook their chicken, as previously reported by The Shade Room.
The video, which was posted nearly a year ago, may have prompted a “social media challenge,” and the FDA is working to ensure that social media users are safely using OTC drugs.
The video has since been deleted, but showed the user frying two chicken breasts in a pan containing NyQuil cold and flu medicine.
In October, authorities similarly warned the public of the “Kia Challenge.”
Four teens were killed in a Buffalo car crash – with a young mother amongst the victims – while attempting the dangerous TikTok challenge where participants steal cars using only a USB cord and a screwdriver, as previously reported by The Shade Room.
WGRZ confirmed the identifies of the victims: Marcus Webster, 19, Swazine Swindle, 17, Kevin Payne, 16, and Ahjanae Harper, 14.
The four were killed when the stolen Kia they were riding in crashed Monday morning, with the force of the crash ejecting them and one other passenger, leaving just two survivors.
