Tyler Brooke passed out on playground roundabout spun by the back wheel of a moped

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A boy was left with serious head injuries after riding a playground roundabout as it was spun by the back wheel of a moped, in imitation of a popular YouTube video stunt.

Tyler Brooke, 11, fainted as the centrifugal force generated by the spinning roundabout forced fluid and blood into his head, leaving his face bruised and his eyes bulging and bloodshot.

Tyler was found by a passing teenager after the youths who encouraged him to try the stunt fled when he lost consciousness. He was taken to hospital where doctors initially feared he might suffer a stroke.

In a Facebook post after the incident this week, Tyler’s mother, Dawn Hollingsworth, said doctors at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham had never seen comparable injuries. She called on YouTube bloggers to stop posting similar videos.

“As for the scumbags who call themselves friends, who laughed so loud when he passed out and then left him alone unconscious in the park, I and the police know who you are,” she said.

A YouTube-inspired prank ruined my daughter's life Read more

A 20-second video shared by Hollingsworth as part of her post shows her son sitting in a chair in the middle of the roundabout at a playground in Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, while it is spun with the back wheel of a moped by an older boy.

As the roundabout spins, Tyler leans back with his legs hooked against its metal frame, stopping him from coming off. A girl can be heard giggling and asking: “Has he passed out?”

Tyler slumps forward in the chair as the roundabout slows and the centrifugal force weakens. The teenagers involved in the prank are then said to have fled, before Tyler was found by another passing youngster.

“I have posted this video not for any sympathy but purely in the hope that young boys see this and do not repeat this YouTube prank,” Hollingsworth, 51, wrote on Facebook. “I could have easily lost my son tonight and wouldn’t want any parent going through what my family are tonight.”

Pictures shared by Tyler’s mother show him with bloodshot eyes and bruising around his face.

Nottinghamshire police said they were investigating the incident and have appealed for witnesses.