A 14-year-old boy went into septic shock and died after ‘injecting himself with butterfly remains’.
Police in the north-east Brazilian state of Bahia are now investigating as there is speculation this followed a viral online ‘challenge’.
Davi Nunes was rushed to hospital in Planalto after his health suddenly deteriorated, beginning to vomit and starting to limp.
At first, the teen is said to have told his dad he had hurt himself while playing.
However, as things got worse, it is reported he told medics at a chemist he had mixed up a dead butterfly in water before injecting the liquid into his right leg.
As his condition started to worsen, Davi was rushed to another hospital on Wednesday (12 February) but later died.
The teen’s death has caused a lot of media speculation in Brazil, as rumours fly about it being part of a weird internet challenge.
He didn’t explain what type of butterfly he had picked for this, but is said to have denied the allegation before he died that he found the experiment online.
Police are now awaiting full post-mortem results after opening an investigation into the claims. It is being openly speculated by media in Brazil that Davi did the injection due to a social media craze.
The teen’s dad reportedly found the syringe he used under his pillow while he was tidying up their home.
It is said his death may be linked to possible toxins in the butterfly mix which could have then caused his body to shut down as he went into septic shock.
A spokesperson for Civil Police in Vitoria da Conquista, which is leading the investigation, said in a statement: “The autopsy results will help clarify the cause of death. The investigation is designed to clear up what happened.”
Professor Marcelo Duarte, director of Sao Paulo University’s Zoology Museum and a butterfly specialist, said: “Butterflies have a complex biology, and the fluids present in their bodies have not been studied in depth in terms of their toxicity to humans.”
The milkweed that Monarch butterflies eat as a caterpillar is actually a poisonous toxin which is then stored in their bodies.
This then makes the Monarch butterfly taste terrible to predators. But, experts have pointed out that the amount of these toxins is typically too small to represent a serious risk to human health.
Featured Image Credit: Davi Nunes MoreiraTopics: Social Media, Health, Viral
Jess Battison