A Clare father has bravely spoken out about the tragic death of his 13-year-old son, in a bid to warn other parents of dangerous online ‘games’ that have been gaining in popularity.
Greg Wilmot, from Sixmilebridge, lost son Conor last week. Greg was the one who found him, lying in a field near their home, late Thursday night.
When the tragic news of Conor’s passing was announced, reports emerged claiming that the teen was the victim of bullying at school. Father Greg was keen to clear up the rumours, however, and share his own thoughts on his son’s death.
In an interview with The Irish Sun, the father-of-three revealed that he believes Conor may have been influenced by individuals he met online, and that his death may have been the result of a ‘game’.
One game in question is the Blue Whale Challenge, in which an administrator assigns a daily task – for example, self-harm – to its members. The game culminates on the fiftieth day, when members are asked to kill themselves.
“I never heard about Blue Whaling until it was mentioned when this happened. [Conor] was like other kids his age – always on his phone,” said Greg.
“I think parents nowadays do not realise how much their children are into the worlds of the internet and virtual reality where, to them, everything is reality.
“They find it hard to discern between that and the real world, and even being familiar with computers - I don’t see how we are going to tackle this as a major problem.
“They take everything they see on the internet so seriously, and so any nutcase can post terrible things on YouTube and social media.”
Gardaí have now reportedly taken Conor’s phone and computer, in a bid to establish whether or not he was participating in any such ‘game’.
Be aware of online 'game' Blue Whale Challenge youngsters are encouraged to self harm and on the 50th Day instructed to take their own lives pic.twitter.com/uvmMkFpOxK
— Cumbria Police (@Cumbriapolice) May 8, 2017
“I will be very surprised if the gardaí do not find that [Conor] was on this Blue Whale or similar dangerous websites,” added Greg.
He and his heartbroken wife, Irina, have blamed Conor’s untimely passing on ‘an unfortunate error in judgement’.
The Blue Whale game has risen in popularity over the past few months, and has been the subject of many warnings from authorities all over the world.
In Russia, the game has been linked to the deaths of well over a hundred teenagers.
The name of the game is said to refer to the phenomenon of ‘blue whales washing up on the beach’.
