By Katie Pathiaki

Lawyers are calling for action as ‘NekNomination’ challenges spiral out of control. They say that people do not know the risks that the game holds, and those who nominate a friend may be charged with manslaughter if the dare results in death.

The online sensation, NekNomination, which involves friends nominating each other to drink pints of alcohol (and other dangerous substances) on camera, has been linked to several deaths, the latest being Bradley Eames, who died after drinking two pints of gin.

‘This is how you drink,’ the 20 year old claimed on the video as he polished off the second pint of gin and tea. The estimated quantity was over 37 shots, and he died a few days later after complaints of feeling unwell.

Eric Appleby, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern said: “It is devastating for family and friends to lose someone in this way. This lethal ‘game’ shows just how hard we have to work to de-normalise binge drinking among young people. But it’s not just about young people, they take their cues from society’s attitude to drinking and it’s this we have to change for all our sakes.”

This comes only a few days after the death of Isaac Richardson, 29, who collapsed in a hostel after drinking a fatal cocktail of wine, wisky, lager and vodka.

“It annoys me that everyone takes it to such extremes, if you can’t handle it just ignore it” says Bournemouth University student Katrina Quick.

Yet it is not always that easy. Reece Parke, 20, from Bournemouth thinks “there’s a lot of pressure to fit in and look good in front of your friends. It’s not surprising that people get hurt when they drink so much so quickly.”

The game firstly claimed two lives in Ireland, Jonny Byrne, 19, and Ross Cummings, 22, who were found at separate incidents during the start of February.

Last weekend, Stephen Brooks, 29, from Cardiff, died after the dares provoked him to drink two thirds of a litre of vodka in under a minute. Although South Wales Police say that the case is not under criminal investigation.

It seems that the NekNomination phase is now dying down. Instead, people have started their own nomination pages, such as Random Acts of Kindness nominations. This is a chain of positive do-good acts such as buying a homeless person a meal with the money that would have been spent on alcohol.

Also, Donate & Nominate has been set up in the hope that encouraging friends to donate blood will help to stock up the national blood bank.

Tristan Langford-Jackson, 19, would love to give blood the next time blood collections are held in Bournemouth. “If people spent as much time and energy giving blood as they do drinking, think of all the good it could do. NekNomination is boring and over the top now, people trying to one up each other is getting ridiculous. My only problem with the donation is that you shouldn’t have to be nominated to do good.”

Although, it may seem that the motivating sense of ‘nominating’ someone to book an appointment will bode well for blood collection services. According to statistics at NHS Blood and Transplant, donors aged between 17-24 represent less than 15% of the donor base.