TikTok ‘surfing’ challenge: Pennsylvania teen killed, woman left with catastrophic brain injury

A teenage boy was killed, and a woman has been left with catastrophic brain injuries after participating in a high-risk social media challenge that is banned on most platforms.

The TikTok ‘surfing’ challenge involves people strapping objects or themselves to the back of cars or standing exposed on the vehicles while speeding along with them on public roads.

Police charge two Pennsylvania teenagers after 17-year-old David Nagy died and a 20-year-old woman was left with massive head trauma in two separate incidents in Northampton County earlier this year.

Nagy was riding on a table tied to the back of his friend’s car in the parking lot of Bethlehem’s Freedom High School on June 1, NBC 10 reported.

The 17-year-old driver, allegedly ‘whipped’ Nagy into another parked vehicle, resulting in a fatal head injury, according to District Attorney Stephen Baratta, and they now face involuntary manslaughter charges.

The second incident occurred on March 18, when 19-year-old Eniya Serina Alvarado allegedly drove at 55kmh in a Park and Ride parking lot while her 20-year-old friend stood on the back of the car.

The woman was thrown from the vehicle and “suffered permanent head injuries”, according to police.

Alvarado has now been charged with aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle.

“The families did have a closeness and a trust with these close friends — I mean, they knew them very well,” Mr Baratta told FOX 29.

“That’s what’s so heartbreaking in this case.

“It’s important for the public to understand that these challenges can have severe, real-world consequences, creating significant risk to participants and sometimes the bystanders as well.”

Both cases are expected to be resolved out of court as the pair are first-time offenders.

A TikTok spokesperson told FOX News the car-surfing videos violate the company’s community guidelines and that 99.8 per cent of them are removed proactively.