A 12-year-old boy died after attempting to recreate a scene from the dystopian Netflix series “Squid Game” as a prank.
The body of Sebastian Cizman, 12, of Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire, was discovered by his cousin lying motionless on the stairs of his family’s home with a sheet around his neck in June, according to an inquest heard this week.
Paramedics were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Cizman was a fan of the popular South Korean survival drama series in which people compete in deadly versions of kids’ games to win cash prizes.
Cops found an image on the boy’s phone of a character who was found hanged to death in the series, and he was known to be a “prankster” who had pretended to be unconscious while play-fighting with friends, the inquest heard.
He also shared an image of the same character in a WhatsApp group chat the day he died.
Cizman’s family told investigators they had spoken to him about dangerous online challenges — which have claimed the lives of numerous youngsters around the world — but he told them he wouldn’t partake.
Although police found no evidence in his web browsing history that he had been searching for dangerous challenges on TikTok, they did find he had searched for a first-aid video on YouTube about “surviving choking alone.”
His devastated parents said he was a popular, happy child who didn’t suffer from mental health issues, and said in a statement they believe his death was a tragic accident.
