Two teenagers have been arrested and criminally charged after their attempt to film a TikTok video left their friend trapped inside a shaft in New York’s Queensborough bridge.
The incident took place on Monday, February 16, when 6-year-old Frankie Allocca, along with at least three other teenaged boys, were at the NYC Queensborough bridge reportedly attempting to film an extreme stunt for TikTok when Allocca fell into a support shaft.
Authorities stated that Allocca had been climbing down a ladder into the shaft when he fell five stories down, suffering injuries to his brain and spinal cord, as well as hypothermia from exposure to New York’s extremely cold winter temperatures.
Allocca’s friends continued to film after he’d fallen into the shaft, with bystanders saying the group recorded him screaming “in agony” and even shared the footage online.
Allocca fell five stories inside a support shaft and suffered brain and spinal injuries before rescuers pulled him to safety.
Police officers responded to the scene at 5:45 PM. It took roughly three hours, 75 first responders and 10 kinds of tools to finally rescue Allocca from the shaft around 9 PM that evening.
“It was a very difficult, time-consuming rescue that involved high-angle equipment and ropes,” Nicholas Corrado, FDNY Deputy Chief, told news outlets. “But we got to the victim … and got him out.”
“The victim was in serious condition with major trauma,” Lt. Christopher Gaulrapp added. “We needed to get him out as soon as possible.”
After his rescue, Allocca was rushed to the Weill Cornell New York Presbyterian Hospital, where outlets stated he was in critical but stable condition. He later admitted to authorities that he’d been trying to film his stunt on the bridge to share on TikTok.
Two arrested after extreme TikTok video leaves teen critically injured
As reported on February 19, two of the teens involved with the stunt have been criminally charged for their involvement in the incident.
An unnamed 14-year-old boy was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing, while a 15-year-old boy was also hit with a criminal trespassing charge.
Allocca’s family have published a Change dot org petition on his behalf after the grueling ordeal, demanding justice after his friends “left him to die” in the shaft.
Citizen AppIt took rescuers three hours to free Allocca from the support shaft he’d fallen into while filming a stunt for TikTok.
“He is going to make a full recovery, but the trauma of this will haunt him, remembering the people who were supposed to be his friends left him for dead as he yelled for help,” Allocca’s mother told the media.
This is far from the first time teens have been seriously hurt filming extreme content for The video-sharing-platform has been hit with a slew of lawsuits after several children died attempting to recreate challenges they’d seen on the app, particularly the ‘blackout challenge’ where users hold their breath until they lose consciousness.
