Boy, 14, found dead in room after trying TikTok challenge

A teenager who was found dead in his bedroom was taking part in a dangerous viral TikTok challenge, his heartbroken mum has said. Leon Brown, 14, was unresponsive when he was discovered by his mother Lauryn Keating, 30, at their home in Dunbartonshire, Scotland on August 25.

She later learned he had attempted the same shocking challenge trend that is believed to have caused 12-year-old Archie Battersbee to suffer a fatal brain injury that later led to his death. Mum Lauryn has been left devastated by her son's death and has issued a desperate warning to other families about the online game.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Lauryn said: "One of Leon's friends told me he had been doing the challenge on Facetime with them after seeing it on TikTok. My Leon thought he would be the one to try it first. Him and his friends probably thought it was a laugh and a joke.

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"One of the kids who he was on Facetime with told me what he had done. She said they thought they would wake up. But Leon didn't come back around. It went horribly wrong."

Lauryn said she wanted other parents to be aware of the dangers of the challenge.

"I had heard of this challenge, because of what happened to Archie Battersbee," she said.

"But you just don't expect your own child to do it. Please warn them, these online challenges aren't worth their lives. They aren't worth 'likes' or whatever they are doing it for."

Speaking of popular youngster Leon, who was a pupil at Our Lady's High School in Cumbernauld, Lauryn said: "He was the happiest, funniest wee boy ever. He was a bit of a class clown and he liked to make people laugh. Everything was always a joke and a carry