Just when you thought the Tide Pod Challenge or snorting condoms was the most ridiculous thing any teenager would be willing to try, along comes another absurd viral challenge to scare the hell out of parents. Maybe you've heard of the Kiki Challenge. It's the latest life-threatening stunt kids are pulling to get likes on social media, and it involves jumping out of a moving car to dance to the song "In My Feelings" by Drake. But one Iowa teen and her dad are warning other kids not to participate in the Kiki Challenge after she tried it and ended up in the ICU.
18-year-old Anna Worden was driving around Bettendorf, Iowa, with friends, when they came to a roundabout and she decided to give the challenge a try.
Worden has been a dancer since she was a little girl, so she figured it'd be a breeze, but that's not how it went down. "I tried, and the last thing I remember was opening the [car] door. So apparently I got out and tripped and fell and hit my head," she told WQAD.
She was rushed, unconscious, to a nearby hospital and then airlifted to an intensive care unit in Iowa City. Doctors determined she had a fractured skull, bleeding on her brain, and multiple blood clots in her ears.
Her dad, Mike, told WQAD that hearing the extent of her injuries and not knowing if she was going to be okay was the most terrifying part of the whole ordeal. "I had five minutes to give her a kiss [before she left to be treated] and not know what was going to happen. I will always remember that," he said.
The Kiki Challenge involves teens jumping out of a slow-moving vehicle, performing a choreographed dance routine, and then getting back in the car.
The "challenge" lies in trying to keep pace with the still-moving car while performing the dance. And although some, like Worden, are performing the moves on abandoned streets or low-traffic areas, others are going for it on busy thoroughfares and at the highest traffic times of the day.
The challenge is rumored to have been started by Instagram star Shiggy, who posted what may be the original Kiki Challenge video in late June.
His video has more than six million views since then and features the dance these kids are all doing when they jump out of moving cars. Many of the Kiki Challenge videos online also include the hashtags #ShiggyChallenge, #DoTheShiggy, or #ShiggyStomp.
From there, it took off, with everyone from Shiggy fans to major celebs doing the dance in the most unconventional places they could find.
49-year-old actor Will Smith actually climbed to the top of the Chain Bridge in Budapest to make his own video of the dance. It's unclear when the challenge made the leap from unconventional and exotic locales to kids jumping out of moving vehicles, but somehow it did. Now you can search "Kiki Challenge" on Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube and find thousands of videos and even some seriously disturbing #KikiChallengeFail compilations that feature kids falling down and smacking into their own car doors.
There are even videos of kids getting hit by oncoming vehicles (caution: this one may be disturbing to some).
Luckily, Fox 8 reports the boy only suffered minor injuries. But others, such as Worden, are not so lucky.
Local police departments have spoken out about the challenge, noting that people are not only getting injured but also putting other drivers at risk.
On Twitter, the National Transportation Safety Board posted a statement that reads, "We have some thoughts about the #InMyFeelings challenge. Distraction in any mode is dangerous & can be deadly. Whether you are a driver, pilot, or operator, focus on safely operating your vehicle."
Worden agrees, and now she's using what happened to her as an opportunity to speak out about the challenge and warn other teens not to participate.
"When we got here and I finally gained consciousness in the ICU, that's when it hit me like 'Wow, I'm actually in the University of Iowa hospitals because I tried to do some little challenge everyone's doing now, and I'm the one that got majorly hurt,'" she explained to WQAD.
Since her accident July 23, Worden has spent all of her time recovering from her injuries in the hospital and relearning to walk. Once she's released, she'll have to continue with intensive outpatient therapy.
More than anything, Worden told WQAD she just wants other kids to know the Kiki Challenge is not worth the risk. "Be more careful about the challenges and fads that are going around," she warned. "It may seem fun, and it may seem easy, but at the same time, they could be so dangerous."
