Cause of death revealed for Rice University soccer player who died after ‘devil trend’ TikTok post
The death of a college soccer player who was found dead after participating in a bizarre “devil trend” TikTok game has been ruled a suicide, officials said.
Rice University sophomore Claire Tracy, 19, passed away from “asphyxia due to oxygen displacement by helium,” the Harris County Texas Institute of Forensic Sciences said, as they ruled her manner of death as suicide.
Tracy was a freshman soccer player at the Houston university, but quit their Division 1 team after a year of struggling for time on the field, according to the Daily Mail. She recently posted of her mental issues on social media.
“Kinda sick of my moods alternating between complete misery and complete dissociation/neutrality towards whatever happens,” Tracy wrote in a TikTok video posted in October.
Tracy was studying finance at Rice and was an academic achiever – earning a spot on the honor roll for all four years of high school. Friends at university have been mourning Tracy since Sunday, remembering the Wisconsin native with academic and athletic accomplishments.
“The past 48 hours, it’s just a shock, confusion [and] for me personally, it’s just more hurting for her,” said Dayo Tennyson, who shared a locker with Tracy last year, to the Daily Mail.
Prior to her death, Tracy participated in a bizarre TikTok trend, communicating with ChatGPT in a social media challenge dubbed the “devil trend” where users write “The devil couldn’t reach me, how?” and then post the chatbot’s response.
Tracy’s prompt included a request to give her the “most brutally honest answer based on everything you know about me,” meant to encourage the chatbot to write a response about her insecurities or flaws based on previous chats.
“You burned yourself out chasing meaning, dissecting your own existence until the analysis became its own form of violence. You didn’t need the devil to tempt you, you handed him the blade and carved the truth into your own mind,” the reply read in part.
The trend has emerged while OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, are being sued amidst evidence the chatbot encourages suicidal thoughts and even coaches users on how to harm themselves.
Rice university offers mental-health counseling for students 24/7, according to their website.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
