A teen was left almost paralysed after she attempted a TikTok challenge has issued a personal warning to other youngsters online.
Sarah Platt, 16, was with her friends joking around when she felt pressure to join in on the "skull breaker" challenge, the Daily Record reports. The online challenge sees two people kick out the legs from underneath a person so they land on their head - hence the "skull breaker" tagline.
Sarah has said she felt peer pressure to join in on the dangerous act after her two friends escaped unscathed after carrying out the challenge. However, the schoolgirl was rushed to hospital after her attempt left her losing feeling in her right leg, as she landed on her neck.
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As reported by the Mirror, doctors found that she had broken three bones in her neck and T5 vertebrae. Sarah said: "It was just a trend that was around at the time. We thought making the TikTok would be fun and funny but I didn’t really want to take part because I just didn’t want to get hurt. But it was a little bit of peer pressure.”
Now an adult at 18, and back on her feet, Sarah has said that she is still affected by the injuries years on, developing postural tachycardia syndrome - which causes her to faint at a seconds notice. The teenager has urged others to think before trying challenges, adding: "I want to try and make people more aware not to do it, because it could end in someone getting hurt.”
Sarah's mum Jane Platt, from Banbury, said: "We were one of the lucky ones. She’s alive and walking – thank god – but we are obviously having to deal with something else as a result.”
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Online safety expert John Staines, a former police officer, uses examples like this when talking to children about dangerous challenges they may have spotted online. John speaks to children as young as six, due to the nature of the internet being so open and easily-accessible.
He said: “Parents think TikTok is full of happy dances and don’t realise there is a darker side. People blame TikTok but they have got billions of users and they can’t possibly watch all videos. Even the best algorithms in the world couldn’t do that.
“With all social media platforms the parent needs to be part of the journey. And the child must be able to speak to the parents.”
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