Skull breaker challenge leaves creator paralyzed

Publish date: 2024-06-12

Naji is a 21-year-old Swedish teenager who suffered spine injuries after being pranked into doing the TikTok "skull breaker challenge" three years ago. According to a 9Gag post shared on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, he is still in constant pain and unable to walk.

The horrific incident occurred three years ago when three of Naji's friends suggested they make a TikTok video. He assumed they were recording a dance video as two of his friends stood on either side while the third was recording. Naji instructed the two friends to jump first followed by him.

As he jumped, his friends kicked his legs away and he landed on his back. He recalled:

"I thought I died. I couldn't even scream"

The dangerous TikTok challenge has left at least two more children hospitalized

The video-sharing app frequently has users attempting viral challenges in attempts to get famous. The injury-inducing skull breaker challenge first went viral in early 2020, but soon spiraled into a massive discourse about the safety of these challenges.

In January 2020, a 13-year-old boy from Cherry Hill High School in Camden County, New Jersey, was hospitalized with a severe concussion after completing the challenge. He was found unresponsive by paramedics who initially thought he was suffering from a seizure.

Following a public backlash, the county prosecutor's office charged two students with third-degree aggravated assault and third-degree endangering an injured victim.

In a separate incident, another 13-year-old girl from Massachusetts was hospitalized with a concussion in February 2020 after attempting the challenge. She later revealed that she believed she was paralyzed as she was unable to feel anything after falling.

The worst part about this challenge is that the victim is unaware as it is done as a prank.

After a public outcry, TikTok issued a statement pointing out that it was not a "TikTok-inspired" stunt. A spokesperson for the video-sharing company stated:

"As we make clear in our Community Guidelines, we do now allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous challenges that might lead to injury, and we remove reported behavior or activity that violates our guidelines."

Following the controversy, TikTok introduced "tools for reporting inappropriate content and for managing privacy settings.”

Naji was hospitalized for three weeks and is currently wheelchair-bound

While he was hospitalized, Naji found out that he suffered serious injuries to his spine that led to the loss of sensation in his left leg.

Speaking about the incident, he remarked:

"I used to play soccer, go to the gym, go to high school as usual and just got an extra job in a factory. Now my whole life has changed. I can't even walk."

While Naji's friends were remorseful, one of the friends shared the clip on the social media site despite the seriousness of the then-teenager's injuries. This resulted in the friend being prosecuted for causing injury to another and the person who shared the clip online was sentenced for unlawful invasion of privacy.

Since then, parents, schools, and even TikTok have urged users not to attempt such dangerous challenges.

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