In a heart-breaking development, an 11-year-old boy named Tommie-Lee Billington from Lancaster, UK died hours after he participated in a viral TikTok trend. As per UK media reports, Tommie-Lee Billington was found unresponsive on Saturday at his friend's house. Therefore, Tommie-Lee Billington was rushed to a nearby hospital, however, he was shortly declared dead by the doctors. Tommie-Lee Billington's grandmother Tina Burns has since claimed he was killed attempting a "TikTok challenge". Tina Burns took to her social media handle and alleged that Tommie died after he performed a TikTik trend named 'Chroming'. Now, the question arises what is Chroming, the TikTok trend due to which Tommie lost his life? Below is what we know so far-
What is Chroming?
Chroming is a viral TikTok trend in which users around the world inhale intoxicating fumes from a toxic source, such as an aerosol can, a spray deodorant, or a paint container. Chroming is an informal term that originates from Australia, however, from where the Chroming TikTok Trend started is hard to determine. As per an Australian media report, the term Chroming first originated from the practice of sniffing chrome-based paint to achieve a high. To get intoxicated to be precise. Some examples of toxic chemicals used are aerosol cans, paint, solvents, permanent markers, nail polish remover, hairspray, deodorants, lighter fluid, glue, cleaning supplies, nitrous oxide, and gasoline.
Tommie-Lee Billington's death
Tommie-Lee Billington's grant reportedly took her Facebook profile and penned a note saying, "He died instantly after a sleepover at a friend's house. The boys had tried the TikTok craze. Tommie-lee went into cardiac arrest immediately and died right there and then. The hospital did everything to try and bring him back but nothing worked. He was gone. He had a heart of gold just like his dad. Our family is utterly devastated."
As per UK media reports, Lancashire Police have launched an investigation and are treating Tommie’s death as unexplained. A police force spokesman was quoted saying, "We were called by the ambulance service at 12:04pm on Saturday March 2 to an address on Greenset Close, Lancaster, to a report of a sudden death. Emergency services attended an address and found an 11-year-old boy unresponsive. Sadly he was later pronounced dead. The death is currently being treated as unexplained and the coroner has been informed."