A teenager died after attempting the newest TikTok internet challenge in a Blanchard, Oklahoma, community was left devastated. Users of the Chinese-created TikTok app have been overdosing on over-the-counter allergy medication in an attempt to increase their numbers on the platform, known as the “Benadryl challenge.” Teens addicted to taking Benadryl experience hallucinations that other friends consider “cool,” but the game is anything but enjoyable.
Now, 15-year-old Chloe Marie Phillips has died after taking an OTC allergy medicine. She was discovered in the early hours of August 21, 2020, but was unable to be revived. They had taken a large amount of the allergy medication and had a deadly overdose. A family member has written a Facebook post (now deleted) alerting others not to join the “Benadryl challenge” bandwagon.
On the hot August day, Phillips was officially declared dead in the early morning hours. The teenager was taking part in a popular internet game that encourages teens to take as many Benadryl pills as they can stomach in order to have hallucinations and other mind-altering effects. Nonetheless, as demonstrated by Phillips’s fate, the challenge may be deadly.
Her great aunt, Janette Sissy Leasure, warned others about the situation. Because it is a popular Internet video game among teenage TikTok users, parents should be cautious not to let kids participate in it.
“This needs to stop taking our kids or putting them in the hospital,” Leasure stated on Facebook. Before she deleted it, her post was picked up by The Sun.
“Don’t let it take any more kids,” the grieving relative posted. “I don’t want to see any families go through what we are going through right now.”
She continued, “Don’t ever say this can’t happen to you. Kids are like, ‘the other person was okay, so I’ll be okay.’ Try to always know what your kids are doing or taking.”
The teen’s funeral was held at the First United Methodist Church in Blanchard, Oklahoma, on August 27, 2020.
“Chloe was a sophomore at Blanchard High School, where she was actively involved in yearbook and track,” according to an obituary. “Chloe loved music, dancing, video games, and being a social butterfly with her friends. Chloe was an extremely intelligent young woman and dreamed of one day going to college and becoming a lawyer. On that journey, she looked forward to her first kiss, getting her driver’s license and one day going to Paris. Chloe’s faith kept her steadfast; she always stood up for what she believed in, and she showed kindness and compassion in everything she did.”
The death of Chloe serves as a caution that Benadryl can be a harmful medication when taken in excess.
“The dose that can cause a hallucination is very close to the dose that can cause something potentially life-threatening,” Scott Schaeffer, director of the Oklahoma Center for Poison and Drug Information, added.
Three teenagers from Fort Worth, Texas, only just survived an accidental Benadryl overdose in May after taking part in a TikTok “challenge.”
