Eleven-year-old Tommy-lee Gracie Billington lost consciousness after reportedly taking part in the viral “chroming”challenge on TikTok and was later declared dead at a hospital.
The tragedy took place on March 2 when the preteen was staying over at a friend’s house.
According to reports, the fatal accident was attributed to the TikTok “chroming”challenge, in which individuals inhale harmful fumes from substances such as aerosol cans, spray deodorants, and spray paints in pursuit of a euphoric sensation.
Tommy-lee with his father.
The young boy’s family was “devastated”when Lancashire Police announced an update to the case in June 2024.
According to reports from Metro, a man, aged 25, has been arrested on suspicion of “child cruelty, neglect, possession with intent to supply a drug and money laundering”in connection to the death of Tommy-lee, which was a result of a social media challenge gone wrong.
A 35-year-old woman was also questioned as part of the inquiry regarding accusations of “possession with intent to distribute.”
According to Tina Burns, the boy’s grandmother, her grandson passed away immediately at the sleepover. She stated that he and his friends had experimented with “chroming”after being influenced by a popular trend they saw online.
Currently, Burns and her family are advocating for a ban on TikTok, a measure that the US government is already deliberating on within its borders.
In a statement given to the Lancashire Post, Burns expressed that both families were completely devastated. However, their shared desire was to prevent other children from using TikTok or engaging in social media.
“Our ultimate goal is to have TikTok removed from existence and prohibit children under the age of 16 from accessing any form of social media. While this may be a difficult and challenging task, we are determined to protect children and raise awareness among families to ensure their safety.”
Tommy-lee is the latest victim of the dangerous “chroming”trend, which has claimed the lives of 13-year-old Esra Haynes and 14-year-old Sarah Mescall, as well as caused 12-year-old Tiegan Solomon to be hospitalized earlier this year.
Despite previous efforts by TikTok to decrease the amount of harmful content on its platform, numerous harmful trends, such as the “blackout challenge,”are still appearing on the app. Tragically, this trend has resulted in the loss of multiple young lives, leading parents of the victims to pursue legal action against the company that owns TikTok, Bytedance.
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