Boy, 10, seconds from death as he played TikTok challenge turning 'blue and purple'

A mother has spoken about the terror she felt when her son was almost killed by another boy when they played a TikTok game called the Tap Out challenge.

Lisa Hill’s son, Kaie, 10, ‘turned blue and purple’ while a teenager put him in a chokehold as part of a disturbing new craze on social media.

It sees a person choke another person until they are about to pass out, at which point they are supposed to ‘tap out’ so the other person stops. Ms Hill claims her son was forced to take part in the dangerous game that he played in a field near his home in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, last Monday, reports Wales Online.

She claims that her son refused to play the game but an older boy pinned him down on his stomach, held his arms down and allegedly strangled Kaie until he turned blue, and was only saved by his two cousins who stopped the attack.

His cousins were not the only ones who intervened, as other children from the group tried but were chased off by two other teenagers who ‘found the game ‘entertaining’ which left Ms Hill feeling ‘sick’ when she found out what happened.

Ms Hill also claims that the police failed to act, criticising them for apparently telling her that an officer would not be able to see the family until nine days after the attack - and is now warning other mums and dads about the social media craze that nearly ended her son's life.

She said: “When he came back home and told me what happened it sent my blood running cold. My son could have died, or I could have been sitting at his side in intensive care because he could be critically ill.

"He mentioned this game to me three or four weeks before and I sat with him and got him to explain in detail what this game actually was. I told him he wasn't allowed to play but the kids did not listen when he told them that.

"I imagine my son is not the only child that this has happened to. I want to raise awareness that this game is still circulating, how dangerous it is, and what repercussions can come from playing it.”

After the attack, Ms Hill posted on Facebook to tell other parents about it, in her appeal, she said: “This game is extremely dangerous and can cause serious injury or even death.

"The way I felt and still feel after learning what happened to my boy has shook me to the core and if I can help prevent this happening again by sharing my story then it is the right thing to share this about this ‘new game’. Police are involved and investigations are being made. Please share this post to make others aware of this potentially deadly game.”

Ms Hill said she phoned the police on Wednesday, August 9, but she did not hear anything back until Sunday when she made the decision to ring the officers again. She claims she was told that the case wasn't allocated to the officer until Saturday and the officer who was allocated the case was off for the next four days.

She emailed Ms Hill early on Tuesday to say she would not be back at work until August 18. Ms Hill said: “I was told by officers that this case was a priority case, because of the nature of what happened.

"But going from August 9 when I reported the incident, until August 18, that's nine days when nothing is getting done. And I don't think it's good enough. If it was adults, who had done this, the police would have been out virtually straightaway.

"Because it's children, I feel that they're not taking it seriously. But when this happened, my boy went blue and purple and could have died. This case could very well have been a murder case.

“You go to the police because they have an authority figure. And you expect the police to be able to deal with these situations appropriately and accordingly. And I was told that this case was a priority yet nothing has been done.

“I appreciate it wasn't the officer’s fault, but why would they assign this case to an officer who only works nights and has four days off? How are they supposed to contact me in order to get this situation sorted? It doesn’t make sense at all. I’m sure it could have been assigned to a different officer.”

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Police said: “We received a report on August 9 that a child had been assaulted off Kinder Road by another child on August 7.

"All incidents are graded based on the threat and risk that is posed. With this incident having taken place two days prior, and the mother of the child confirming that her child was safeguarded an officer was assigned to the incident on August 12 and then made contact with the mother on August 15.

“We are sorry that the mother has not received the level of service that she expected and we will be making contact to understand her concerns in order to improve our response. Incidents such as this are taken seriously and a proportionate investigation will be carried out.”