Woman, 18, Hospitalized After Attempting Viral 'In My Feelings Challenge' Based on Drake Song
Anna Worden, 18, had to be rushed to the intensive care unit after she became one of the many who have been injured while attempting the popular “Kiki Challenge,” according to reports.
The craze — which incorporates a choreographed dance to Drake’s hit song, “In My Feelings” — has gone viral since late June as celebrities like Ciara popularized it over social media.
But the innocent challenge soon turned dangerous when thousands of people began to record themselves hopping outside of moving cars and performing the dance as the vehicles travel down the road.
Videos of the risky dance have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Instagram and YouTube.
A post shared by MJ Gordon (@marinjayden) on Jul 17, 2018 at 12:47pm PDT
Worden told WQAD that she decided to participate in the trend as she drove around with friends near her home in Bettendorf, Iowa, on July 23.
“We were over by the round-about, and I thought it would be a fun idea to do the ‘Kiki Challenge,’ ” she told the news station.
But Worden, a lifelong dancer, was quickly knocked unconscious after stepping outside of the car.
“I tried, and the last thing I remember was opening the door,” she told WQAD. “So apparently I got out and tripped and fell and hit my head.”
Emergency personnel transported Worden to a nearby hospital, where she was then airlifted to the intensive care unit in Iowa City. Doctors determined that the young woman had fractured her skull, and was experiencing blood clots in her ear and bleeding in her brain, WQAD reported.
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“I had five minutes to give her a kiss and not know what was going to happen,” Worden’s father, Mike Worden, told the outlet. “I will always remember that.”
After regaining consciousness in the ICU, Worden reflected on what led her to the hospital.
“That’s when it hit me like ‘Wow, I’m actually in the University of Iowa hospitals because I tried to do some little challenge everyone’s doing now,’ ” she said, “and I’m the one that got majorly hurt.”
Of the thousands of Kiki Challenge videos that have been posted, there is a growing subset of videos that show failed attempts at the dance, which include cars crashing into poles and being hit by other vehicles. In short, many things can go wrong in those few seconds that it takes to do the dance, and police around the country have warned against participating in the challenge as injuries continue to mount.
“We have some thoughts about the #InMyFeelings challenge. #Distraction in any mode is dangerous & can be deadly. Whether you are a #driver, #pilot, or #operator, focus on safely operating your vehicle,” the National Transportation Safety Board tweeted.
We have some thoughts about the #InMyFeelings challenge. #Distraction in any mode is dangerous & can be deadly. Whether you are a #driver, #pilot, or #operator, focus on safely operating your vehicle. Read more on this #NTSBmwl issue: https://t.co/b9D0IwNemV #MWLMonday https://t.co/vt6oFTbDsj
— NTSB (@NTSB) July 23, 2018
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Worden is re-learning how to walk, and is now warning others about the risks they take when jumping outside of a slowly moving car.
“Be more careful about the challenges and fads that are going around,” she told WQAD. “It may seem fun, and it may seem easy, but at the same too, they could be so dangerous.”