Teen warns TikTok users against ‘skull breaker’ challenge after breaking neck

A teenager has warned TikTok users against attempting the viral ‘skull breaker’ challenge or other similar trends, after she broke her neck attempting it.

TikTok is home to a huge array of different trends and challenges that have dominated For You Pages across the world, with new ones popping up every day.

Although many of these challenges are harmless, there have been a number of them that have had potentially dangerous consequences.

Now, 18-year-old Sarah Platt is warning people against trying the viral ‘skull breaker’ challenge and similar trends, after she broke her neck attempting it two years ago.

The ‘skull breaker’ challenge, which was particularly popular in 2020, involves two people kicking the legs out of a third person from underneath them as they jump, causing them to fall backwards on the floor.

Sarah told The Mirror that after attempting the challenge, she was rushed to the hospital on a spinal board with no feeling in her right leg. At the hospital, she found out that she had broken three bones in her neck and her T5 vertebrae.

“It was just a trend that was around at the time,” Sarah explained. “We thought making the TikTok would be fun and funny but I didn’t really want to take part because I just didn’t want to get hurt. But it was a little bit of peer pressure.”

Two years later, she still experiences complications as a result of the incident in the form of postural tachycardia syndrome, which can cause her to faint.

Warning others against trying similar challenges, Sarah added: “I want to try and make people more aware not to do it, because it could end in someone getting hurt.”

Attempting to search the skull breaker challenge on TikTok now leads users to an information page about harmful internet challenges and trends.