US News

Man dies playing new Internet craze Punch4Punch

Tributes are flooding in for a young father who died after being punched in the chest as part of a dangerous new internet craze.

Tommy Main, 23, was rushed to hospital on Sunday after he was hit by a friend in a so-called Punch4Punch challenge at a London house party, the Independent reports. He died shortly after.

The game involves two people taking turns to punch one another until one gives up, with the loser taking shots of alcohol. The heavy blows are usually filmed so the footage can be shared online.

Main’s brother, Roy, was furious at friends who encouraged the violence.

“I’m hurting so bad I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again,” he wrote online. “For the people at the party who call yourselves friends, you should have stopped it, not try and film it. I hope you can’t sleep.”

Another brother, Ben, said the family was “devastated” by a tragedy they were still trying to understand.

For the people at the party who call yourselves friends, you should have stopped it, not try and film it. I hope you can’t sleep.

 - Tommy Main's brother Roy

“I can’t believe my little brother has lost his life,” he told the Daily Mail. “He was punched in the heart and it stopped beating. He died instantly.”

“He’s got a little girl and she doesn’t know yet. How do you tell a three-year-old her dad is dead? She doesn’t even know what it means.”

A tribute page on Facebook, set up by Tommy Main’s best friend Matthew Davey, had attracted more than 2000 “likes” by Wednesday.

“He was my best friend in the whole world,” Mr Davey said.

Police are treating Main’s death as “unexplained” and the results of his post mortem examination could take up to six weeks.

A 20-year-old man had been arrested in connection to the death, cops said.

The Punch4Punch trend follows on from Neknominate, which was linked to a number of deaths in the UK.

In that online game, thought to have originated in Australia, people drink huge amounts of alcohol and film themselves engaging in increasingly risky activities, before nominating friends to one-up them.