London - A girl aged nine has become the youngest victim of the NekNomination drinking craze.
Rhiannon Scully was hospitalised after downing a cocktail of vodka and whisky, egged on by her friends who had seen similar stunts on Facebook.
She was found riding home “all over the place” on her electric scooter and still in her school uniform by her horrified mother, who picked her up and called an ambulance.
Rhiannon later had to have her stomach pumped and was monitored overnight in hospital.
On Monday police confirmed they questioned both Rhiannon’s family and her friends’ families about the incident but decided no action was required.
Rhiannon’s mother Michelle, 32, claimed the drinking dare was filmed on a mobile but deleted soon after. The alcohol was taken from a cupboard at her friend’s house without the knowledge of any parent.
The primary school pupil from Leadgate, County Durham, is the youngest person linked to the deadly drinking game that has now become a global craze and sees people being filmed while performing bizarre challenges.
Mrs Scully said she found her daughter with her “eyes rolling into the back of her head” after the drinking dare.
She said: “When I saw her I was raging, I was upset and angry. I was also scared because we didn’t know what would happen at this point.
“I saw her in her uniform with two other friends. I ran to her, she was falling over and she didn’t know where she was. She could have been run over, she was riding her scooter at the time.” The mother said she and her husband Paul, 39, believed Rhiannon had drunk vodka and whisky mixed together with orange juice after being encouraged by her two friends, also aged nine.
The unemployed mother said the doctor calculated she had drunk around half a pint of the concoction. “Even a fully grown adult would hesitate to mix vodka and whisky,” she said. “She was being sick in the bathroom before the paramedics got there.
“We found out in the ambulance that it was a NekNomination. Rhiannon said ‘them stupid NekNominations’.” She added: “I wouldn’t like to see this happen to any other child and I wouldn’t wish the feeling I felt as a parent on my worst enemy.
“They need to teach children in schools the dangers of alcohol.”
Her husband Paul added: “Rhiannon was on a drip all night and had to have her stomach pumped.” Medics alerted police to the incident last month and the family then received a visit from officers.
The NekNominate craze is only thought to have started in January this year in Perth, Australia, but has quickly spread via social media.
It is a drinking game in which people post videos of themselves on Facebook and other social media sites drinking dangerous and bizarre concoctions of alcohol and then dare their friends to outdo them.
An early example of the trend was a woman who was filmed riding a horse into a supermarket before downing a can of Pepsi. But the videos have become increasingly dark with three deaths in Britain now linked to the craze.
Last month, in the third death, Bradley Eames, 20, from Nottingham, was found dead after he filmed himself downing almost two pints of gin mixed with teabags.
Stephen Brookes, 29, of Cardiff died after downing a pint of vodka while taking part in the deadly NekNominate craze.
A few days previously, former grammar school pupil Isaac Richardson, 20, of London died after telling a friend he wanted to “outdo” other NekNominate participants before downing a lethal concoction of wine, whisky, vodka and lager.
Durham Police said they were also investigating how a 12-year-old required accident and emergency treatment over three consecutive weekends for alcohol-related injuries. Their investigation came after police in Stanley, County Durham seized a bottle of expensive gin, two bottles of schnapps, two bottles of sparkling wine and eight cans of cider from four 14-year-old girls.
Sergeant David Clarke said: “Under-age drinking is a severe problem with younger children drinking through peer pressure.” Not only did it damage their health, it put them at risk of sexual abuse, the officer said. He said: “There is a very strong link between alcohol and sexual predators. It could just be people who find them in such a state or people who supply them with alcohol in return for sexual favours. It is used as a commodity.”
Hospital staff said they tended to see more under-age drinking in young girls than in boys and expressed their concern at youngsters putting themselves in vulnerable situations. - Daily Mail