KUALA LUMPUR: A trending stunt among teenagers which involved applying enormous pressure to the chest could lead to death.
The stunt which is known as the “pass-out game” require “players” to press a person’s chest until he or she is rendered unconscious.
A video of three teenage boys performing the stunt had recently made rounds on social media and led to the public voicing their concerns.
Included in the video’s description on YouTube is a warning by National Professor’s Council social development and welfare deputy cluster head Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Taib Dora, who described the act as reckless and would lead to health complications and death.
Taib said the boy whose chest was pressed in the video could have suffered brain damage if his brain was deprived of oxygen for seven seconds.
“This dangerous act is crazy, it could cause death. The teenager in the video might suffer a stroke or (become) paralysed,” he said.
In the 25-second video, two of the boys pressed their friend’s chest for approximately 5 seconds.
The teenagers believed to be high school students were heard laughing while pressing the boy’s chest until the latter suddenly collapsed.
The two almost panicked when they realised their friend was not breathing but resumed laughing when their friend recovered.
A commenter on the video who goes by the name Herly Md Ali said it was fortunate that the boy had survived the ordeal.
“Don’t do things that could damage your main organs, kids these days are making jokes more dangerous nowadays. Imagine making headlines in the news because you accidentally killed your friends.”