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A viral TikTok prank called the Bucket Challenge took a turn for the worse after it left one woman hospitalized in Tustin, California, on Sunday, March 26, 2023.
The challenge involves putting a bucket, or a container, over an unsuspecting person, usually a shopper, much to their confusion. The aim is to record the victim's confused reactions. Such videos are a rage on the video-sharing platform, with millions of views.
However, last Sunday, the bucket challenge led to a lone shopper, a 35-year-old mom of two, Lana Clay-Monaghan, losing consciousness and being rushed to the hospital after it triggered an epilepsy episode. She told the Los Angeles Times:
"My vision, my hearing was obstructed."
Police are still looking for the four boys responsible for the unfortunate bucket challenge prank
Lana, a mother of twin children, was shopping for baby supplies from a local target in Tustin when the event took place. A bunch of youngsters came up behind her and slung a bucket-like container over her head that they had picked up from somewhere in the shop. The 35-year-old told Insider that the object felt like a "cloth-lined laundry hamper."
The bucked challenge victim later told Fox 11:
"I couldn't breathe. I grabbed my neck, I started screaming. I was in such a state of fear and shock, however, I could hear laughing"
Lana later narrated that when she turned around, she found middle schoolers laughing and recording the incident on their phones.
The mother-of-two, who has epilepsy as a result of cancer, panicked as she struggled to take the object off her head, triggering an attack and eventually losing consciousness.
"The worst part about this for me is the last moment I had is asking them for help and they were laughing at me and I hit the ground."
The Tustin Police Department released a statement explaining that investigations were underway. They stated that they have video footage showing "four male juveniles" entering the store and fleeing the location after the failed bucket challenge.
Lt. Ryan Coe told NBC that they are looking into the case as an assault and battery and added:
"Sometimes these kids think what they're doing is a prank... In reality, it's a crime."
Lana Clay-Monaghan, meanwhile, was released from the hospital and is trying to move past the "traumatic experience." In a Facebook post, she condemned the bucket challenge and alluded to the "harmful consequences of thoughtless actions," writing:
"The fact that this was all done in the name of a prank is especially distressing."
Since victims sometimes refuse to cooperate with seemingly innocent and harmless pranks, the bucket challenge has led many to question the validity of such videos.
In 2020 another dangerous prank, the skull breaker challenge, went viral. It involves two people kicking an unsuspecting victim's leg mid-jump, which leads to them falling over and their heads hitting the ground. Some teenagers suffered severe injuries as a result, and one unfortunate case resulted in paralysis.
There was no prank video featuring Clay-Monaghan in TikTok.
