OnlyFans star, 20, says she suffered heart attack taking part in ‘dry scooping’ viral TikTok challenge

‘I just felt so stupid for doing that dumb challenge and ending up in a hospital bed’

An OnlyFans star named Briatney Portillo suffered a heart-attack after trying out the popular “dry scooping” trend on TikTok that involves ingesting a spoonful of undiluted protein powder for a more productive workout.

The 20-year-old Florida stripper consumed the powder before her exercise and started feeling chest pains at her gym.

“I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. Especially because I’m so young,” she told The New York Post.

Describing how things unfolded, Ms Portillo told Buzzfeed: “After I took the pre-workout, I started to feel tingly and itchy all over my body, which wasn’t a good feeling, but I googled it and it said that was a normal side effect.”

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“So I began to do my workout. I started to feel a heavy feeling in my chest and slight pain, but it wasn’t too bad. I thought it was maybe anxiety or a bad panic attack, so I decided to just ignore it and push through my workout,” she said.

After recovering from dizziness and nausea, Portillo said she was feeling better so she went to her job performing as a stripper.

“In the locker room of my job, I started getting hot, even though it was cold in there. … I started sweating a lot and was drenched even though I was wearing a bikini. Then my chest pain came back and this time it was more intense,” she said.

“The pain went to my back and to my left arm and my left arm went slightly limp, so I knew those were symptoms of a heart attack. I called 911 and the ambulance came,” she added.

At the hospital, after running some tests, the doctors saw that the dancer’s troponin (type of protein found in the muscles of the heart) levels were quite high, meaning that she “either had a heart attack or her heart was very stressed.”

It was later determined that she had an NSTEMI - non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, which is a type of heart attack typically less damaging to the heart.

“They said to stay away from caffeine and watch what I take — especially pre-workout, since it isn’t regulated by the FDA. They said I was OK to work out within 3–4 days after my hospitalisation and to start watching my heart rate on either a Fitbit or a smart watch,” said Ms Portillo.

“I just felt so stupid for doing that dumb challenge and ending up in a hospital bed,” she told The Post.

She said she’ll be steering clear of TikTok challenges from now on and cautioned other people against participating in dangerous trends.

“Do not do what you see other people doing on TikTok thinking it will make you cool,” she said. “It’s not worth risking your health or your life,” Ms Portillo said.

This is not the first time a social media challenge went awry and led to a life-threatening situation.

Earlier this week, in another dangerous TikTok challenge, a 13-year-old girl landed in the intensive care unit (ICU) with third-degree burns after attempting to recreate a trend that involves setting fire to symbols drawn on a mirror using flammable liquid.

Similarly, last year a skull-breaker challenge went viral in which two people kick the legs of the third one from under to make the person fall over. The challenge led to aggravated injuries in several young people.