Throughout the years, you might have seen the various challenges filling your feed on social media. Whether it’s the Ice Bucket Challenge or the Kylie Jenner lip challenge, you may have tried it once yourself! But have you ever heard of challenges that could lead to fatal injuries or even death?
In early 2012, there was a challenge called the “Salt and Ice Challenge.” This consisted of people putting ice and salt on their skin to see who could handle the pain the longest and feel the burning sensation. This led lots of people to go to the hospitals with frostbite and second or third-degree burns.
Over time, people started doing more life-threatening challenges like the fire challenge, tide pod challenge, and the choking challenge, and some of these challenges led to death.
In 2016, there was a challenge called the One Chip Challenge. The One Chip Challenge is where you eat a very spicy tortilla chip called “Paqui.” Originally, this challenge was only meant for adults, but minors got a hold of these chips. Paquis can be very deadly to kids or teens and about three high school students were hospitalized and lots got sick.
But in a recent article on September 1, 2023, a high schooler named Harris Wolobah died because of this deadly challenge. Harris’ mom said that she got a call from the school saying that Harris had a bad stomach ache from eating the spicy chip. Harris felt better when he went home, but at 4:30 p.m., Harris passed out when he was about to go to basketball practice. His mom then took him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The family was devastated and blamed the spicy chip company for Harris’ death. The Paqui chips were taken from the shelves after this incident and the autopsy began to see how Harris actually died.
Some thought that this whole case was just an act, while others believe this was a tragic case. People are not yet sure how he died, but it was most likely the extremely high doses of capsaicin, which is a compound in chili peppers that were present in this chip.
With the rise of these internet trends, our online generation should take cautuin with what we see online. Challenges like these may be attractive to high school students, but we should take these horrific accidents as a warning to always be cautious when participating in online challenges.
