A 13-year-old dies after trying a ‘Benadryl challenge’ Image by antonbe from Pixabay
A 13-year-old dies after trying a ‘Benadryl challenge’
Viral “Benadryl challenge“ on TikTok has seen the death of many teenagers since its debut in 2020 in the United States.
A 13-year-old dies after trying a ‘Benadryl challenge’ Image by antonbe from Pixabay
A teen from Ohio in the United States succumbs to an overdose of over-the-counter medication following a viral “Benadryl TikTok challenge”.
Jacob Stevens a 13 year old from Columbus, had been partaking in the #Benadryl challenge which is viral in the States. This is a harmful challenge where a participant had to take 12 of 14 of the antihistamines which is about six times the recommended dose. They did this to induce hallucinations live on cam.
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Benadryl is used to treat sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, hives, skin rash, itching, and other cold or allergy symptoms. Benadryl is also used to treat motion sickness, to induce sleep, and to treat certain symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. In case of overdose one can experience extreme drowsiness, blurred vision, increased heart rate, confusion, seizures and even coma.
On Twitter an account by Oli London posted, “The boy, Jacob Stevens, who was filmed doing the challenge by a group of friends, had a seizure on camera and spent 6 days on a ventilator before tragically dying.”
The trend started back in 2020 and that same year a 15 year old girl died while participating in the challenge.
A heartbroken father pleads aims to end the Benadryl challenge that took his son’s life
Talking to ABC6 Jacob’s father, Justin Stevens said his son was at home with his friend on the weekend of the overdose.
Stevens said the footage taken by his friends showed his son drowning the pills, after which the body started seizures.
Jacob was then rushed to hospital after the seizures started speeding up which led to him dying in the ventilators 6 days later.
According to Indy100, Stevens said he is also urging politicians to tighten regulations on purchasing drugs like Benadryl and for social media services like TikTok to improve their controls against use by minors.
He stressed: “It’s my life’s goal now to make that happen, I’ll go until the day I die.” He said he had previously written to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine pleading with him to set age restrictions on purchasing over-the-counter medication.
