Kamal Ghorui
A dangerous social media challenge took the life of a nine-year-old daughter, the family claimed, and warned against using such a dare. JackLynn Blackwell died in her family’s backyard a month ago after she was found with a cord wrapped around her neck, her parents, Curtis and Wendi Blackwell, said.“It was just the three of us, three amigos, we did everything together,” said Curtis Blackwell.“Karaoke. She loved karaoke; she could do it all day,” Curtis and Wendi Blackwell said.JackLynn’s parents said she loved to sing and dreamed of being a star, CBS News reported.“She was on YouTube a lot, which, of course, a lot of kids are,” said Curtis Blackwell.They said she also loved taking on challenges she found on social media, which seemed harmless to them until the incident a month ago.“Normal morning, tickle her, to wake her up to get ready for school,” Wendi Blackwell said.“She goes out to play like she always does, out in the yard. I noticed it’s kind of quiet — quieter than it should’ve been,” said Curtis Blackwell. “Then I saw her kind of around the corner that goes to the carport, saw her hair. I said, ‘JackLynn!’ I thought she was bending over playing because she was always in that area playing, but she wasn’t playing.”“I found her unconscious, she was leaned into the cord,” Curtis Blackwell said. “I tried to do everything I could to save her. I got her off the cord. I tried to give her CPR until the first responders got there. It was the most terrifying, shocking thing I’ve ever seen. It was horrible to see my daughter in such a vulnerable state because of something so senseless.”“I don’t think I’ll ever,” said Curtis Blackwell. “I’ll never forget that day. That’ll replay in my head for the rest of my life.”The Blackwells said they spent the days since trying to understand why it happened.“My mom told me that JackLynn had shown her a video before of a guy doing that with the cord, my mom told her, ‘Don’t you ever do that,'” Curtis Blackwell said.Videos on social media of people intentionally choking themselves to get a brief euphoric high, often called the blackout challenge, circulated for years.
What is Blackout Challenge?
The “blackout challenge,” which encourages individuals to asphyxiate themselves to the point of losing consciousness, falls into the latter. Her parents said they believed JackLynn copied what she saw and became one of the 80 documented cases of death from the challenge, according to the CDC.“It’s not a joke, it’s not a game, it’s life and death, ” Curtis Blackwell said. “Most of the kids are like 9 years old to 14 years old. A lot of kids her age, their brains aren’t fully developed, and they are very easily influenced.”Some social media sites now put up warnings or blocked searches for the blackout challenge, but videos continued to promote the act.“She’s our beautiful angel now,” Wendi Blackwell said.Only a month after losing their daughter, the Blackwells said they were turning their grief into action.“Even if it saves one life, that life means a lot,” Curtis Blackwell said.They called for more accountability, saying they did not want other parents to face a similar loss.“You could check on your kid, it could be kid-friendly videos, and then three minutes later it could be totally something dark because of the algorithms they start creating,” said Curtis Blackwell. “There’s too many of these kids lost for these companies not to be held accountable in my eyes.”
