A 13-year-old boy has tragically died completing a sick TikTok challenge that saw him overdose on Benadryl tablets.
Jacob Stevens, from Columbus, Ohio, US, was trying to copy the unsafe challenge by consuming the over-the-counter antihistamine medicine in order to try and create a hallucination.
The challenge, which would then be uploaded to social media, was being filmed by his friends at home when the teenager's body started seizing.
Jacob was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors warned relatives he might never wake up after it was "it was too much for his body", according to his dad Justin.
Justin now wants to share the story to warn anyone off engaging in the sick and reckless 'challenge' and urged parents to keep an eye on what their children are doing on their mobile phones.
And the maker of the medicine, Johnson and Johnson demanded the "extremely concerning" trend be "stopped immediately."
Justin told reporters: "They said we could keep him on the vent, that he could lay there but he will never open his eyes, he'll never breathe, smile, walk or talk."
He died after six days on a ventilator after his brain was no longer responsive. Justin described Jacob's ventilator being turned off as "the worst day of his life."
And the dad released a picture of Jacob hooked up to life support in hospital to spread awareness of what can happen with the sick 'challenge'.
It has led the family to becoming dedicated to spreadin awareness of the dangerous TikTok challenge and to ensure no other family suffers the same fate.
Justin has urged other parents to be aware of what their kids are up to on social media.
"Keep an eye at what they're doing on that phone. Talk to them about the situation,' he said. "I want everyone to know about my son."
“Talk to ‘em about, you know, the situation. I want everybody to know about my son’s situation.”
The heartbroken family are urging lawmakers to get TikTok to impose an age-restriction for making accounts - which will force users to provide identification before being allowed onto the platform.
Dianna Stevens, Jacob’s grandmother has already contacted politicians to try and get them to put an age restriction on buying medicine like Benadryl.
She said: "I am going to do everything I can to try to make sure another child doesn’t go through it."
Justin told ABC 6 that Jacob was caring and could brighten up any day.
The tearful dad said: "It didn't matter how bad of a day I was having, no one could make me smile, Jacob could make me smile."
The Food and Drug administration have warned parents the dangers of their children participating in the TikTok challenge.
It said: "Taking higher than recommended doses of the common over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma or even death,' the FDA wrote.
"We are aware of news reports of teenagers ending up in emergency rooms or dying after participating in the 'Benadryl Challenge' encouraged in videos posted on the social media application TikTok."
Meanwhile, Benadryl manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson, said "the Benadryl TikTok trend is extremely concerning, dangerous and should be stopped immediately."
According to reports, one 15-year-old girl died from the dangerous challenge in 2020 after overdosing on the antihistamines.
