Woman’s warning after TikTok trend landed her in hospital

A US woman has warned against a TikTok trend after it landed her in the hospital.

Lana Clay-Monaghan was shopping with her children at a Southern California Target when a group of teens, influenced by TikTok, played a prank on her that landed her in the hospital.

She was looking at baby products when everything suddenly went dark. Something had been placed over her head.

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Confused, alone and frightened, the mother of two twin boys could hear people around her laughing.

“I immediately felt something come over me — a human presence behind me,” she said.

“I started screaming. It was really abrupt. It really scared me.

“When I turned around, it was a group of male individuals filming me.

“I know they were filming me because the (camera) light was on.

“They all had their phones and they were laughing.”

Security camera footage from the store revealed that Clay-Monaghan was the victim of a new kind of TikTok challenge.

In the trending prank, a bucket or basket is placed over an unsuspecting individual’s head and their reaction is recorded

Clay-Monaghan, who suffers from epilepsy, struggled for several seconds to remove the bucket.

She passed out and later woke up in a hospital.

“As an epileptic, this was a particularly terrifying experience for me, and as a new mother, shopping for her twins, on a Sunday in Target within the baby aisle, I felt targeted, vulnerable and in that moment I feared that my life was in danger,” Clay-Monaghan said.

“The fact that this was all done in the name of a prank is especially distressing, and I feel that it is important for the public to be aware of the potential dangers of social media and the harmful consequences of thoughtless actions.

“No one should have to experience what I went through.”

The mum has implored people to “go home and talk to their children”.

“This is not OK,” she said. “It’s not humorous and it has consequences.

“I am calling upon those responsible to step forward and take responsibility for their actions.

“Assault is a serious crime, and it is never acceptable to harm others for the sake of Entertainment.”

Tustin Police said they were investigating the case as an assault and battery.

“Sometimes these kids think what they’re doing is a prank,” said Lieutenant Ryan Coe.

“In reality, it’s a crime.”

Authorities did not release security camera video of the encounter. They said four teen boys left the scene on electric bikes.