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Another TikTok trend, called the Blackout Challenge, has claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl who attempted the “choking challenge,” which has been a rage of late on the short video-sharing application.
Milagros Soto, who belonged to Argentina, was found hanging in her home. Her aunt, Laura Luque, informed Jam Press about the tragedy and said that the incident occurred on January 13, 2023. She said:
“We are inconsolable because we gave her so much love.”
The blackout challenge has been around since 2008 and has claimed many lives. However, the trend made its way back on TikTok again in 2021 and has been in the spotlight ever since.
The reason why the trend is considered to be so dangerous is that it encourages people to restrict their breath until they become unconscious. This can cause the oxygen levels to dip in the brain, leading to seizures and injuries, and might also lead to death.
“I believe someone encouraged her to do it”: Victim’s aunt Laura revealed more details about her niece dying due to the blackout challenge
TikTok has been home to many trends and challenges, and people actively get involved in these challenges either out of curiosity or for the fame it brings. However, many people have died in recent years due to the blackout challenge.
12-year-old Milagros Soto’s aunt said that she feels that her peers on the internet encouraged her to engage in the trend. She said:
“I believe someone encouraged her to do it. She suffered a lot with bullying.”
Jam Press also reported that this was not the first time the victim had tried the blackout challenge. She had successfully completed the challenge twice before, but this time, she could not remove the rope from her neck. The media house also informed that the entire incident was captured on camera, as she was allegedly live-streaming the challenge.
Authorities have also started investigating the matter further, as family members claimed many on social media encouraged her to do the blackout challenge. A thorough investigation is even more crucial as the aunt claimed that her niece had received multiple links to do the TikTok dare.
Soto’s school also paid their tribute and said:
“We support our student’s family in this terrible moment. She was a great student, friend, sweet, good and kind.”
Soto's aunt described her niece as a beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes and claimed that she was often bullied at school. She said:
“We have a lot of doubts about everything that happened. She was a very smart girl. She suffered a lot of bullying. She told us that nobody liked her at school because they said she looked pretty, because she was blonde and had light blue eyes.
She added:
"She was a happy person. unbelievable. An excellent niece, granddaughter, daughter. A very studious girl because we have nothing else to say because everyone here knew her as the girl who smiled with those big eyes.”
The blackout challenge, also known as the choking challenge or the pass-out challenge, has claimed a minimum of 80 lives. Due to the rise of such harmful and dangerous trends on social media, many people have sued the platform.
TikTok, on the other hand, is encouraging users to flag such trends, users, and videos that encourage young people and adults to engage in such deadly dares and challenges.
