A Colorado boy passed away over the last weekend after spending weeks on life support following his participation in the TikTok “blackout challenge.”
Joshua Haileyesus was found unconscious in the bathroom of his family home in the Aurora suburb on March 22. It was his twin brother who made the shocking discovery.
The 12-year-old’s parents said that a shoelace was wrapped around his neck and that days earlier, he bragged to his sibling that he could hold his breath for longer than a minute.
“Unbeknownst to his parents, Joshua had been playing this dangerous game completely unaware of the risks involved,” a GoFundMe Page said of the TikTok challenge.
The grieving father of the late teen hoped his story would raise other parents’ awareness regarding the Blackout Challenge.
"I don’t know why people would do such things. This is not a joke. This is not a thing to play with."
