12-Year-Old brain dead after trying ‘Blackout Challenge’ on TikTok

“He’s a fighter. I can see him fighting. I’m praying for him every day,” Joshua’s father, Haileyesus Zeryihun, told the TV station.

Still, Joshua’s family hasn’t given up hope. They gathered with friends and neighbors on Monday night to pray for the boy, The Denver Channel reported.

“I can’t even describe the grief and devastation,” family friend Hirut Yitayew told the news outlet. “Nobody could ever imagine this would happen to a 12-year-old.”

The family is also warning others about the dangers that social media platforms can hold when “challenges” like this start trending.

“This is something that kids need to be given, to be taught, to be counseled,” his father told The Denver Channel. “Because this is a serious thing. It’s not a joke at all. And you can treat it as if somebody is holding a gun. This is how dangerous this is