Girl, 8, dies months after dare to drink boiling water through straw
An eight-year-old girl has died just months after she was dared to drink boiling water through a straw.
Kiari Pope, of Florida, was given the dare by her cousins in March when the group saw a video on YouTube about drinking boiling water through a straw, her family says.
Her cousin, Latoya Johnson, said Kiari felt "fierce".
“She felt like she was so fierce and could do everything,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll do it.”
After she took on the challenge, she was rushed to hospital in Miami with severe internal burns, NBC Miami reports.
Doctors put a tube in her throat.
Kiari was given a tracheotomy - an incision in the windpipe made to relieve an obstruction to breathing - and was left deaf with chronic respiratory problems, the Palm Beach Post reports.
It was last weekend, after Kiari fell asleep, that she woke up unable to breathe.
Within a minute, she was unresponsive. Nearly an hour of CPR couldn’t bring her back.
She was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead.
Kiari has been described as a "happy kid" and someone who "made joy out of whatever situation she was in" by her cousin Latoya.
State authorities investigated the March incident and at least nine other allegations of either abuse or neglect involving Kiari since her birth.
"The loss of this child is truly devastating and our condolences go out to all those who loved her," Department Secretary Mike Carroll said in a statement.
"We have opened a child death investigation to examine the circumstances surrounding her death and will deploy a Critical Incident Rapid Response Team to review all interactions this family has had with Florida's child welfare system."
