Monday 17 February 2014

Neknomination Linked To Gin Drinking Death

A Nottingham man, who reportedly downed two pints of gin, is thought to be the latest person to die after taking part in an internet drinking game known as Neknomination.
The 20-year-old's death comes as an online backlash against the craze gathers momentum with people rejecting nominations and carrying out random acts of kindness instead.
Salesman Bradley Eames posted a video on Facebook as part of the game. In it he unscrewed a bottle of gin and poured himself a whole pint, saying: "This is how you drink."
Despite appearing unwell after downing the drink he immediately had another and once the dare was complete he gave the camera a thumbs up.
He had drunk the equivalent of 37 shots of gin and died a few days later, on February 10.
Post-mortem tests have so far been unable to confirm his death was a direct result of the stunt and police say further tests are being carried out.
Mr Eames' death came a day after Isaac Richardson, 20, collapsed after downing a cocktail consisting of a ''large amount'' of alcoholic drinks at the hostel where he worked in Woolwich, southeast London.
Stephen Brooks
Stephen Brooks, 29, died in Cardiff. Pic: Facebook Tribute Page
Other recent deaths linked to the craze include Irish teenager Jonny Byrne from Carlow, who jumped into a river midway through a challenge.
His death in February came a day after 22-year-old Ross Cummins died in Dublin city centre.
Neknomination is an online craze, thought to have originated in Perth, Australia, in which drinkers post videos of themselves downing alcohol in a series of outrageous stunts.
They then nominate their friends on social media to repeat the dare.
Members of Mr Eames' family have taken to social media to urge others not to take part in the game and the backlash against the craze is growing.
A website called RAK (Random Acts Of Kindness) Nomination has been set up.
The site suggests nominating two friends to do something good instead.
"Like lots of people around the world, we got tired of seeing all the NekNomination videos and people doing stupider and stupider things," it says on the site. 
"The idea of using a peer group to try and do good instead of essentially self harming was one that was too good to ignore."
Jonny Byrne died while taking part in an online craze called neknomination
Jonny Byrne, 19, is thought to have died after jumping into a river
Among others, the site features videos showing South African Brent Lindeque giving food to a homeless man.
Neknomination, which is also known as Neknominate, has its own dedicatedFacebook page where those taking part can post videos of their stunts.
Among those posted since the five deaths are one showing a man apparently swallowing his pet fish with his drink.
Another shows a Scottish student pictured unconscious and covered in vomit.
His mother, Nikki Hunter, told Scotland's Daily Record she had gone public with the picture of 19-year-old Keiren to make other parents aware of the dangerous stunt.
She told the paper: "I gave him a talking to when he woke up this morning, and told him I’d put the picture on Facebook to embarrass him so he wouldn’t do it again.
"Other parents and kids need to know how dangerous this is."
A criminal lawyer has, meanwhile, warned that those nominating people for dares they know to be a criminal offence could could find themselves in trouble with the law.
Julian Young told Sky News that if a third party was injured or killed it could potentially have very serious consequences.
"It has not been tested so far. I think that time is going to come when someone is stupid enough to suggest that someone else should commit a serious criminal offence," he said.

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