WARNING: Contains issues some may find distressing
Handout A grieving father who lost his son to a sickening online ‘suicide game’ has warned parents about online safety.
Conor Wilmot, 13, is believed to have taken part in the Blue Whale Challenge, which encourages vulnerable young people to play along with dangerous online challenges which evoke suicide.
Conor’s father, Greg Wilmot, found his son’s body in a field nearby his home in Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, Ireland on May 11 and is convinced the online game led to the tragedy.
The Siberian TimesHe told the Irish Mirror:
Parents nowadays do not realise how much their children are into the world of virtual reality where, to them, everything is reality.
They find it hard to discern between the two and I don’t see how we are going to tackle this as a major problem. Any nutcase can post terrible things on social media.
PixabayConor’s father suspects he was playing the Blue Whale suicide game, a sick creation designed to goad youngsters into self harm and suicide.
Local police have seized Conor’s laptop and phone to determine whether he was playing the game – which has been linked to 130 teen deaths in Russia – before he died. Conor was described by his school as ‘a hard working and happy student’ and was ‘well-liked’ by all.
The game, designed by Russian 21-year-old, Philipp Budeikin, is allegedly named Blue Whale after the phenomenon of blue whales beaching themselves and dying.
The Siberian TimesBudeikin, the ringleader of the depraved ‘suicide game’ has claimed his teenage victims are a ‘biological waste’ and that he is ‘cleansing society‘.
The deadly social media game gives young players a ‘mentor’, who leads them through fifty dangerous and soul-destroying tasks designed to break their spirit and encourage them to take their own lives in the final challenge, at Budeikin’s bidding.
Blue Whale plants suicidal thoughts into malleable minds with pictures of an approaching train captioned, ‘This world is not for us’ and photographs of teens on a roof, claiming ‘We are children of the dead generation’.
Siberian TimesAmid fears Blue Whale had spread to Britian via social media, some schools warned parents against the dangers of allowing children to participate in the sick game. It seems these warnings were too late for Conor.
In a Facebook post, Conor’s sister, Melanie wrote:
This story is about my brother, my little brother. I can tell you he was not bullied, he was so happy with such a bright future and so many things he had planned. This story is wrong.
HandoutSt Patrick Comprehensive School in Co Clare, Ireland, where Conor attended school released a statement saying:
There has been some speculation on social media and in some media outlets regarding the circumstances of the tragedy. In particular there have been suggestions of bullying.
It continued: “This speculation is totally without foundation and represents an unwarranted intrusion into the grief of the family at this tragic time. School management and the school community as a whole are shocked.”
If any of the issues above have affected you, you can call Samaritans anytime, from any phone, free of charge on 116 123.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.