An 11-year-old boy from the United Kingdom tragically lost his life after participating in a dangerous social media trend known as “chroming.” The boy, Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington, suffered a suspected heart attack at a friend’s house in Lancaster on a Saturday. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, but unfortunately, the medical team was unable to revive him.
The boy’s grandmother, Tina Burns, revealed that Tommie-Lee and his friends had been trying out the “chroming” challenge, a trend popularized on the social media platform TikTok. The challenge involves inhaling fumes from common household items such as aerosol cans, nail polish remover, paint solvents, and cleaning products. The participants then film the process and the effects, sharing the videos online.
Burns described the devastating moment, saying, “Tommie-Lee went into cardiac arrest immediately and died right there and then. The hospital did everything to try and bring him back but nothing worked. He was gone.” She added that the family is utterly devastated by the loss.
The “chroming” trend is not only dangerous but potentially lethal. The inhalation of these toxic fumes can lead to severe brain damage, suffocation, and cardiac arrests. Despite the risks, the trend has gained popularity among teenagers worldwide, leading to numerous deaths.
In response to this tragedy, Tommie-Lee’s family is calling for stricter regulations on social media platforms, particularly TikTok. They believe these platforms should do more to ensure user safety and prevent such dangerous trends from spreading. The family is even advocating for the shutdown of TikTok and barring children under 16 from using any social media platforms.
TikTok has previously faced criticism for allowing dangerous trends to proliferate on its platform. Earlier this year, leaders of several prominent social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram’s Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok’s Shou Chew, were questioned by the US Senate Judiciary Committee about the safety of their platforms. This was part of an initiative to pass the “Kids Online Safety Act,” which would mandate social media companies to take more aggressive actions against dangerous and predatory behavior on their platforms.