A woman with epilepsy in California fainted and was rushed to a hospital after a group of teen boys shoved a bucket onto her head as part of a TikTok challenge.
Lana Clay-Monaghan was at a Target in Tustin, California, shopping for her newborn twins when the teens put a bucket on her head, recording her reaction before fleeing the store.
The mother, who has epilepsy and is a cancer survivor, was startled and said that a lack of air inside the bucket caused her to pass out onto the floor of the store, according to a report by KTLA.
“I was looking at some baby soap. I leaned down and my whole world changed,” she told the broadcaster. “Everything went quiet, dark and there was really no air. I flipped off what was put over me, around my neck, and I turned around and looked over my left shoulder. To my dismay, it was a group of individuals who were filming me, seemingly for some sort of prank or maybe for something like TikTok.”
Ms Clay-Monaghan was taken to the UC Irvine Medical Centre for treatment.
She said the situation has left her frightened while she's out in public.
“I keep looking over my shoulder. I’m a nervous wreck,” she said. “I cannot believe that in my community you could go to Target, be in Target maybe a mere 10 to 15 minutes, and someone would find it amusing to come and strategically find a female by herself in the baby aisle and think this would be funny or laughable for likes.”
There are numerous videos of "pranks" on TikTok in which teens film themselves placing buckets over the heads of shoppers before they scurry off and act as though they had nothing to do with the joke. Though many appear to be staged, the trend does exist and the videos are portrayed as real pranks.
Tustin police told KTLA they believe the incident was inspired by the challenge. They are currently reviewing surveillance video from the Target to try to identify the boys.
Viral challenges, which often appear on TikTok and other social media platforms that feature video sharing, have left people — including the participants — hospitalised before.
Earlier this month, 46 students at the University of Massachusetts were hospitalised after participating in the "borg" drinking challenge in which they drink a gallon jugs filled with alcohol and some kind of flavouring, accoring to CBS News.
The viral challenge's hashtag has more than 85m views on TikTok.
