A family is grieving the loss of a 10-year-old boy they say loved to make videos for the TikTok social media app, but died attempting to perform a dangerous challenge in the popular app.
The family of 10-year-old Robert Craig in Floyd County, Georgia, warned other parents to monitor their social media use after he was found by his sister hanging from a tree in their front yard.
“I walked outside, I saw his tablet and I saw him hanging from the tree. I ran over and got him down,” said Madison, the boy’s 12-year-old sister, to WGCL-TV.
“I called 911 and tried to do CPR on him,” she added.
The boy later died at a hospital.
The family said Robert was born with only one eye and he had experienced some bullying at school over his disability.
The Floyd County Police Department told WGCL only that they were still investigating the incident, but the family said that they were told investigators didn’t believe it was a suicide.
“They said they don’t believe it was a suicide because he was a happy child and after looking at his TikTok it could have been a TikTok challenge,” Madison continued.
The family says the investigators reviewed what was on Robert’s tablet and indicated that it might have showed that he was attempting to record the “blackout challenge” on TikTok.
In July, a 12-year-old in Oklahoma died after reportedly trying the same challenge. He was found unconscious in the breezeway of an apartment building with ligature marks on his neck.
“It all basically comes down to is where a kid tries to asphyxiate themselves to the point of unconsciousness, and then once they start to gain their consciousness back is when they get a euphoria-like feeling,” said Bethany Police Lt. Angelo Orefice to KOCO-TV at the time.
Here’s a local news story about the horrendous incident:
Family says child died after TikTok Challenge
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