An 11-year-old United Kingdom boy has died from cardiac arrest after attempting a dangerous TikTok challenge, his family claims.
Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington, 11, was found unresponsive at a friend’s house in Lancaster around 12 p.m. on March 2.
The child was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Billington and his friend had reportedly attempted a TikTok challenge called "chroming," which involves huffing aerosol paint or other chemical products to get high.
Aside from death, chroming can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, irregular heartbeat, chest pain, hallucinations, blackouts, seizures, and comas.
The boy's grandmother, Tina Burns, told the Times of London, "He died instantly after a sleepover at a friend’s house. The boys had tried the TikTok craze 'chroming.' Tommie-Lee went into cardiac arrest immediately and died right there and then. The hospital did everything to try and bring him back, but nothing worked. He was gone."
"He had a heart of gold just like his dad. Our family is utterly devastated," Burns added.
The grieving grandmother asserted that social media platforms need to "do more."
Burns said, "We don’t want any other children to follow TikTok or be on social media."
On March 31, 2023, a 13-year-old girl in Australia died from cardiac arrest and brain damage after chroming during a sleepover at a friend's house.
The New York Post reported at the time, "In 2019, a 16-year-old New South Wales boy died after inhaling an aerosol. In 2021, a 16-year-old girl in Queensland suffered brain damage from chroming."
"And in 2022, another 16-year-old boy from the state died after sniffing deodorant," the report added.
