How is the “blackout challenge”, TikTok’s serious viral challenge that left a brain dead child

Archie Batterbee, a 12-year-old English boy, was found unconscious on 7 April in his home. Since that day he has never woken up and is hospitalized with brain death, according to the doctors who treat him. Hollie Dance, the boy’s mother, said that her son was doing a viral challenge that she had seen on TikTok. And she tried to convey a message about the risks of these practices.

According to the woman, Archie was performing the “blackout challenge” when he was on the verge of death. “I went to see where he was and called him and he didn’t answer. Then I realized he was hanging from the railing with something around his neck,” she described her mother.

The mother picked up her son and immediately went to the street to ask for help. After this, he ran to perform CPR on him. He was then transferred to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, where doctors told Hollie that “Archie would not have survived the night”. Since that day, almost two and a half months later, the boy has never woken up.

The Blackout Challenge or Blackout Challengeconsists of a very serious challenge circulating on TikTok, which consists of putting a belt around the neck to check how much time the participant can spend without breathing.

This TikTok challenge is based on social network users blocking their breath until they pass out and experience “strong sensations”. And as if that weren’t enough, some of the people who accept the challenge, They are registered with their cell phones.

According to Archie’s family, this challenge would have resulted in the child’s brain death.

That said, other users are asking to raise awareness to guide minors facing the very dangerous TikTok blackout challenge.

The decision of Justice

According to doctors treating the child, Archie is brain dead and has no chance of recovery. That is why they recommend disconnecting the artificial respirator. A British judge agreed with the professionals, but the child’s family refused and appealed the court’s decision.

His mother said it is “extremely disappointed” due to the judge’s decision to end her life support, but says she won’t give up on her son.

“Basing this judgment on an MRI test and being ‘probably’ dead is not enough. This must be the first time someone has been declared ‘probably’ dead based on an MRI test,” he said.

She said she felt “disgusted” that the hospital and the judge did not heed the family’s wishes, adding that she did not think “Archie has been given enough time.” “His heart still beats He grabbed my hand and like his mother I know he’s still there, “he said.

Archie’s family also asks people to attend a vigil for the boy outside the hospital.

It is not the first time that British justice has authorized the disconnection of a minor against the will of the parents.

In 2018 the case of alfi evans around the world. The boy, just 21 months old, who suffered from an undiagnosed degenerative neurological condition, was disconnected from life support after a UK Supreme Court ruling backed the doctors’ request.

Justice later confirmed that the child “had lost the ability to hear, see, smell or respond to touch due to the catastrophic degeneration of his brain.” “Keeping the baby connected to the lung ventilation machine would compromise Alfie’s future dignity,” she concluded.