A tenth-grade boy has suddenly died after partaking in the viral ‘One Chip Challenge’ and eating what is said to be the spiciest chip in the world.
According to NBC Boston, Harris Wolobah died on the same day he participated in the online trend known as the “One Chip Challenge.” Harris hailed from Worcester, Massachusetts and was only 14 at the time of his death.
On September 1, the boy’s mother was called to the school when Harris complained of a stomachache. He’d eaten the dangerously spicy chip after it was given to him by a classmate.
The young teen felt better after going home but he passed out at 4.30pm when he was about to leave for basketball tryouts.
Speaking with the Worcester Telegram, police Lt. Sean Murtha said the boy was unresponsive and not breathing. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
While Harris’s death marks the first reported fatality after eating the chips, many other children have needed medical attention after eating them.
In October 2022, a school district in Lafayette, Louisiana banned the chips from all campuses after multiple students needed medical attention.
Less than one month later, paramedics were called to a high school in Dunwood, Georgia, prompting police to issue a warning about the snack.
The ‘One Chip Challenge’ is a marketing campaign surrounding a single tortilla chip that is advertised as the spiciest in the world.
The challenge has drawn a following across social media, with the ‘#onechipchallenge’ tag boasting over two billion views on TikTok.
The California Reaper Pepper was officially named the world’s hottest pepper, measuring up to 2.2 Million Scoville Heat Units (SHUs) on the Scoville Scale. The Naga Viper Pepper came in just below it at 1,382,118 SHUs.
The single chip comes in a coffin-shaped box emblazoned with a red skull.
A warning label on the promotional site reads: ‘Keep out of reach of children. Intended for adult consumption.’
The page encourages people to seek medical attention if they experience complications like difficulty breathing, fainting or ‘extended nausea’.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was set up by Tashia Roberts, the boy’s cousin, the day after his passing with a goal of $30,000.
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