What to Know
Apparently, there is nothing more embarrassing for a teenager on live TV than their mom sharing the truth about how traumatic it was to have a stranger slice your neck with a box cutter. Wild, right? That’s what happened for 13-year-old Sullivan Clarke, who was randomly attacked by a man on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. He survived with stitches on his neck, but afterward, when Sullivan and his mom spoke to Fox News, they shared details about what happened.
Sullivan’s mom, revealing that Sullivan had nightmares following the attack, received an embarrassed and shocked look from the teen, who also did a classic “rizz” face to the camera for good measure. He really is all teen boys who have a camera show up and live television there, ready to capture every ridiculous movement and expression.
The teen survived a knife attack and almost died of embarrassment from his mom.
@b_wiggs75 This kid wins the internet today in my opinion!! 🤣🤣🤣@Fox News #ingrahamangle ♬ [Raw recording] Record playback noise 01 (3 minutes) – Icy Light
In a clip from the news segment that went viral on TikTok, Sullivan’s mom explains how Sullivan was attacked by a man and how Sullivan and his 11-year-old brother had to deal with the mental effects of the aftermath of the random attack. All of that is totally understandable. But Sullivan’s reaction to his mom spilling the beans about nightmares and about Sullivan being a lot less cool than he might have thought he was is what made the clip go viral.
When the Fox News anchor asks Sullivan in the clip about having “situational awareness,” maybe in an effort to get him to be more aware of his surroundings next time, he agrees, but adds that it’s “kind of dumb.” To that, his mom rolls her eyes, as moms tend to do to get through whatever ridiculous thing their teenager says without thinking.
His mom admits that Sullivan has had nightmares, but she hopes everything is “fine” and that this is the last they have to worry about the incident. The man who was charged in the incident was found soon after. Per Fox News, he had been released from jail just a few days previously and he had other charges from another attack that were still pending.
When the clip was posted on TikTok and some users joked in the comments that Sullivan’s actions and responses in the video were because of pain medication he was on following the attack, others weren’t so sure.
“That’s not pain meds, that’s 100% teenager vibes,” one commented. Another joked, “Does he know he’s traumatized?”
His behavior is very “teenage boy” coded.
Teenagers have a way of not taking things seriously, even after they’ve escaped a potentially deadly situation. Maybe it’s a new zest for life, or maybe Sullivan just doesn’t realize how lucky he is. Whatever the case may be, his behavior is pretty similar to how most teenagers, specifically teenage boys, would be afterward.
“The look of betrayal when mom mentioned the nightmares,” someone wrote under the TikTok video.
“Teenagers are so unserious,” another user added.
And as far as Sullivan’s looks to the camera where he is clearly trying to look cool and not at all affected by what happened, to one user, it’s as if he’s saying, “Mom, why are you making me look weak in front of the ladies watching?”
Hey, maybe Sullivan will still get some cool points for surviving the attack. His mom’s account of what happened being all over social media, though? That’s got to take him down a few notches, popularity-wise. It will probably all even out in the end. He has a gnarly scar to show for it, after all.
