News Beat
‘Star of the class’ pupil, 12, dies after tragically ‘trying Squid Game prank’
A STAR schoolboy suddenly died in a “very tragic set of circumstances” after recreating a scene from a Netflix thriller Squid Game, an inquest heard.
Sebastian Cizman, 12, was found hanging at his home on June 27 and was sadly pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
His cousin found him unresponsive while taking him up an ice cream that Sebastian’s dad had brought home.
An inquest into his death heard that the police had found an image on his phone of a character from Netflix dystopian thriller Squid Game in which a character was hanging.
On the day of his death the 12-year-old had shared the image in a Whatsapp group.
Described as a “prankster” Sebastian was popular at school and entertained his friends, even once pretending to be unconscious while play fighting.
After speaking to his family police believed his death may have been the disastrous result of him trying to recreate what he had seen on Squid Game.
A police investigation found that he had searched Youtube for a first-aid video about “surviving choking alone.”
However no evidence of searching for dangerous challenges was found, but he had viewed the Netflix show.
A “speculation” surrounding dangerous challenges had been suggested shortly after his death but police had found no evidence to support it, the inquest heard.
Sebastian’s family said they had previously discussed the dangers of online challenges with him and he said he wouldn’t try them.
The Detective Sergeant, Paul Bayliss, who investigated the child’s death, told the inquest hearing that Sebastian’s interest in Squid Game, and the image found on his phone, coupled with his “prankster nature”, provided a hypothesis to Sebastian’s tragic death.
Assistant coroner John Hobson concluded that Sebastian died due to misadventure.
In this context, misadventure is defined as a deliberate act that unintentionally goes wrong and results in a death.
The coroner described Sebastian’s death as a “very tragic set of circumstances”.
Marcin and Katarzyna Cizman, the 12-year-old’s parents said that he was a happy boy who had no mental health problems.
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
They believe his death was caused by a tragic accident.
Headteacher at St Wilfred’s Catholic High School, Dr Philip Dore, said the schoolboy was a popular, happy and funny pupil who was good at making his class laugh.
Sebastian was a form rep and had been named “star of the class” in the past.
