Mum heartbroken as teenage son dies in bedroom taking part in viral TikTok ‘blackout’ challenge

A teenager who was found dead in his bedroom by his mum. The boy is thought to have taken part in a viral TikTok challenge.

Fourteen-year-old Leon Brown was found in his bedroom by his mother Lauryn Keating on August 25, with the heartbroken mum later discovering that he had been taking part in a TikTok challenge called the ‘blackout challenge’. The challenge is believed to be the same one that left 12-year-old Archie Battersbee in a coma before his eventual death last month, reports the Daily Record.

The challenge encourages people to restrict their breath until they fall unconscious. The highly dangerous challenge causes low levels of oxygen in the brain so severe that it can lead to seizures, serious injury, or in Leon’s case, death.

Lauryn has spoken out over the devastating loss of her son and called on other parents to stop their children taking part in the challenge. She said: “One of Leon’s friends told me he had been doing the challenge on Facetime with them after seeing it on TikTok.

“My Leon thought he would be the one to try it first. Him and his friends probably thought it was a laugh and a joke.

“One of the kids who he was on Facetime with told me what he had done. She said they thought they would wake up. But Leon didn’t come back around. It went horribly wrong.