“I just want everybody to be aware of where they can educate their kids,” the teen’s father said.
By Catholics for Catholics
After taking part in a perilous “Benadryl challenge,” an Oklahoma girl was left brain dead, according to a story by The Daily Wire.
After the hazardous fad — which nudges teens to overdose on allergy medication — triggered a disastrous series of seizures and cardiac arrest, Leah Presson, 15, is now in an intensive care unit at Integris Health Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.
There is no activity in her brain.
Presson took part in the “Benadryl Challenge,” which emboldens minors to videotape themselves while downing toxic amounts of the allergy medication to provoke hallucinations and delirium. After drinking Benadryl, Presson underwent seizures and cardiac arrest, and after multiple tests at the hospital, she was found to have “no brain activity.”
“I tell her to keep fighting and stay strong. You got this. You’re a fighter,” Leah’s father, Richard Presson, told KFOR.
At first, Richard Presson believed his daughter’s seizures were from her history of asthma, but her symptoms were very akin to those triggered by the “Benadryl Challenge.” He said she had participated in the dangerous craze before.
“I don’t even want to think about a funeral because I feel like there’s still hope and everybody’s like, giving up too soon,” her father said. “I believe in miracles, that she’s definitely a miracle baby.”
Used for the short term to alleviate cold or allergy symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, hives, skin rash, and itching, Benadryl is an antihistamine. However, an overdose of this medicine can be deadly or cause severe side effects.
After the deaths of the three Connecticut children, the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate warned parents that the medication “is potentially dangerous to children of all ages.”
“We strongly encourage parents to store all medications safely, to ensure they are not easily accessible to children,” the office added. “We also want parents to know that resources are available if their children are experiencing mental health needs.”
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