13-year-old dies from ‘Benadryl challenge’ on TikTok

Challenge encourages people to take 12-14 pills to hallucinate

A family is pleading with parents to talk to their children after they say the latest TikTok challenge caused the death of their 13-year-old son.

Jacob Stevens died after six days on a ventilator. His family said he overdosed on Benadryl while participating in an online “challenge” that encourages people to take 12 to 14 pills to cause a hallucination.

The family said Jacob took more than that while his friends recorded him.

“Keep an eye on what your kids (are) doing with that phone, talk to them about, you know, the situation. I want everybody to know about my son’s situation,” said Justin Stevens, Jacob’s father.

The family is now calling on TikTok to put better age restrictions in place.

They also want lawmakers to put an age restriction on buying medicine like Benadryl.


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About the Author:

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.

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