A healthy four-year-old boy died after eating a spice found in most homes.
Matthew Radar found some cinnamon powder while climbing around his family’s kitchen recently, and ate some.
His mother Brianna said her son almost immediately started having problems ingesting the spice.
“He started choking. It was like he was having a seizure and just collapsed,” she told WLEX.
Matthew was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead just an hour and a half later.
The coroner ruled the death “accidental,” saying asphyxiation, or suffocation, is common when inhaling the powder.
The death has prompted Brianna to send a message to those that participate in the ongoing trend of the “cinnamon challenge,” where people, typically teenagers, ingest large amounts of the powder, record themselves, and share the recordings on social media.
“Cinnamon can kill,” Radar said. “All these kids, they don’t think about the fact it can hurt them.”
She also donated all of her son’s organs, hoping they can benefit others.
