A dangerous TikTok challenge has gone viral as summer heats up in the Northern Hemisphere. The trend involves people jumping off the rear of a moving boat. Tragically, this viral challenge has already claimed the lives of four individuals in Alabama.
"The four that we responded to when they jumped out of the boat, they literally broke their neck and, you know, basically an instant death," Capt. Jim Dennis of the Childersburg Rescue Squad told NBC News. The deaths have occurred in the last six months.
Dennis said, "I think people, if they're being filmed on camera, I think they're more likely to do something stupid because they want to show off in front of their friends for social media."
Alabama officials are seeing people of all ages attempt this dangerous stunt on the Chinese video-sharing platform.
Police say at least 4 people have died doing the TikTok boat jumping challenge
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) July 9, 2023
"When they jumped out of the boat, they literally broke their neck ... instant death" pic.twitter.com/OKUPNXlGG0
Experts with the Sea Tow Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on boater safety, warned, "Hitting the water from a moving boat is like hitting concrete from jumping multiple stories up."
Experts said even wearing a life jacket while jumping out of a moving boat would not prevent instant death because people are hitting the water at high rates of speeds with soaring risks of breaking their necks.
