The heartbroken parents of a schoolboy feared to have died copying a notorious online craze have lashed out at social media firms for putting deadly viral trends in children’s feeds.
Sebastian Cizman, 12, was found unresponsive at his family’s home in Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire, during his younger brother’s First Holy Communion celebrations.
He is believed to have been imitating a challenge that encourages youngsters to choke themselves until they pass out, and which has been linked to multiple child deaths around the world.
Health experts have warned it can cause permanent brain damage or death in under five minutes.
Sebastian was discovered with a sheet around his neck, lying motionless on the stairs of the family’s terraced home on Friday evening.
Despite desperate efforts by paramedics to revive him, he was tragically pronounced dead at hospital.
Now his heartbroken parents have spoken out to urge other families to wake up to the dangers lurking on their children’s phones.
Distraught Marcin and Kasia Cizman are also demanding urgent action to hold tech giants accountable.
Kasia, 37, an office clerk, said: ‘They should take the people who are promoting these challenges and put them in prison, so no other child dies.
‘These platforms don’t do anything. It is completely unchecked. They make money and they don’t care.
‘It’s hard what I’m going to say, but I hope that the loss of my child is going to help some other children to understand.
‘And for the people that run these social media platforms to do something, to stop it from happening.
‘How many kids have to die until they will do something?
‘My message to other parents is check your children’s phones before it is too late.’
Sebastian was found fatally injured on a staircase at the family’s end-of-terraced home during an ‘absolutely happy’ day with his family and cousins from Poland for the communion of younger brother Mike, nine.
Kasia said: ‘We were cooking downstairs, and the kids had all been playing on the trampoline.
‘Marcin brought out ice creams and called the kids. Then the kids came downstairs without Sebastian.
‘So Marcin asked “where’s Sebastian?”. His cousin said they were tired from jumping on the trampoline and that he went upstairs for a rest.
‘He told them to go and fetch him, and they came back after a few seconds and said “I don’t know if Sebastian’s joking or not, but he’s lying on the stairs”.
‘We ran upstairs and found him. He had taken a sheet from the duvet, which wrapped around his neck but not tightly.
‘We called for an ambulance straight away and started to resuscitate him. We didn’t stop until the paramedics arrived.’
Sebastian, a self-taught classical pianist, was able to access social media despite platforms requiring their users to be at least 13 years old.
Sebastian had no history of self-harm, and his parents say he would never knowingly risk his life.
Marcin said: ‘He was able to sign up for them with no questions asked. He was smart enough to do it. Smart enough to wriggle around it.’
‘Most of his friends have accounts. There are children in primary schools with them. How can that be?’ added Kasia.
Authorities are continuing their enquiries to establish the full circumstances of Sebastian’s death. His phone is set to be examined by police as part of the investigation.
A GoFundMe appeal has been raised to help the family raise funds to transport Sebastian to Poland for his burial.
The statement on the fundraiser describes the teenager as ‘a boy full of dreams, passion, and incredible talent’.
It added: ‘Sebastian lost his life because of an online challenge. His parents gave him all the love and care in the world – but that one moment online changed everything.
‘So today, we ask you – as parents, guardians, friends: Talk to your children about what they do online.’
The family, who had moved from Krakow when he was aged one, had planned to return to the country next year.
Marcin said: ‘We were preparing everything to go back to Poland, to Krakow.
‘Now, we have to bring him in a coffin to the place where he dreamed to live.’
It comes after the parents of four British teenagers filed a lawsuit against TikTok in February over the deaths of their children, which they claim were the result of a similar challenge.
The lawsuit related to the 2022 deaths of Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Julian ‘Jools’ Sweeney, 14, and Maia Walsh, 13.
The lethal trends, which have been widely condemned by experts, often show up in users’ social media feeds without being directly searched for.
Paying tribute to Sebastian, Kasia painted a picture of an empathetic, intelligent and happy-go-lucky boy who was determined to make his mark on the world.
She said: ‘He taught himself how to play the piano with both hands – classical music like Bach and Mozart.
‘He also learned how to play guitar and loved to draw and paint. He was a very intelligent boy who acted older than his years.
‘Sebastian was full of empathy and so caring about other people. When anything happened, he was the first to help.
‘He was so special. And I don’t understand. I really don’t.’
West Yorkshire Police said the force is not treating the boy’s death as suspicious.
In a statement, it said: ‘Police were called by ambulance colleagues to an address in Manor Grove, Castleford, at 6.06pm yesterday (27/6) following reports of concern for the safety of a child.
‘Officers attended the location and the boy was taken to hospital where it was later confirmed that he had died.
‘Enquiries are ongoing on behalf of the West Yorkshire Coroner to establish exactly what happened. The incident is not being treated as suspicious.’
