TikTok trend: Red-faced mum breaks foot copying 'stupid' craze

Klaire Cave and cousin Gemma Stephens were in a hotel room in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, on Saturday March 1 when they decided to attempt the challenge themselves. The tipsy 40-year-old had watched one involving users dropping increasingly heavy objects onto their feet from waist height and ranking the pain.

Wince-inducing footage shot by Gemma, 29, shows Klaire giving it a go by dropping a spoon that she rates 1/10 on the pain scale and a door stop she rates 2/10. The recruitment worker escalates to letting far larger items slam down on her foot including the hotel's standing fan and a full suitcase, which she rates 8/10 and 10/10. She ends many of the tests, including the video clutching her foot and hopping around her hotel room with Gemma giggling from behind the camera.

Klaire says she shrugged off the pain at the time and it wasn't until she tried to walk the next morning that she realised she'd damaged her right foot. The mum-of-two went to Sunderland General Hospital on Monday March 3 but admits she was too embarrassed to tell docs she'd dropped the items on purpose.

An X-ray found she had broken her fourth metatarsal bone and suffered ligament damage, meaning she has to wear a medical boot for six weeks to fully recover. She admits it was 'daft' and pledges she'll be sticking to dancing in future.

Klaire, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, said: “The pain was unbelievable. I obviously wasn't expecting to break my foot. We went to a couple of pubs and then ended up doing a TikTok challenge that I'd seen.

“Honestly I don't even know what went through my mind but I think it's just because I'd seen so many on TikTok and I thought I'll give that one a try as well'. I've tried a few dance ones and drinking ones and things but this one seemed different so I thought I'd give it a go.

“I've got a feeling it was the suitcase or the fan that broke my foot, the heavier objects. But then again the door stopper did actually feel like it hit a bone. It wasn't really hurting that much at the time, it just hurt for a split second. When you stub your toe and you hold your foot it's okay, you get over it. So I just continued. They'd normally call me the crazy one out of our group of girls so I guess I'm just the entertainer but not in a very good way unfortunately. Gemma didn't do it, she's a bit more sensible than me.

“It was fine that she was chuckling behind the camera because obviously it was fine at the time. Obviously she wasn't laughing the next day when she saw the state of my foot.”

The pair had taken a trip to the Lake District for Gemma's 29th birthday and had returned to their room after an evening out drinking. Klaire also drops a glass, a water bottle and a boot on her foot before moving on to the full suitcase.

An embarrassed Klaire admits she should have realised the challenge was a bad idea and insists she's learned her lesson. Klaire said: “I've definitely learned my lesson. I'll not be doing any more challenges, not at all. I didn't tell them [the doctors] the full truth about TikTok. I told them I dropped a suitcase on my foot. I was very embarrassed.

“There's definitely no permanent damage. It doesn't look like that at the moment, all the bruising is moving upwards into my toes so it's not very pleasant to look at now. I was scared it would do permanent damage. Honestly I never thought it would lead to anything like that. Sharing my story is raising awareness because there are some silly things online and people who are as silly as me copy it, but I've learned my lesson.

“I should be old enough to realise that I shouldn't be doing it but I didn't think it would break my foot. It was massively daft, I won't be doing that again. I do see a lot of challenges now but the majority seems to be dances so I think I'll stick to them.”

Podiatrists are warning that online fads like #droppingthingsonmyfoot can have long-term consequences. After being contacted by reporters TikTok removed the videos for breaching their community guidelines and claim to have blocked hashtags and search terms relating to the trend.