Most people attempting the milk crate challenge usually end up on the floor with crates toppling all around. The milk crate challenge involves an attempt to move across milk crates arranged in the shape of a pyramid. Milk crates are used to transport milk, and even though they lock together easily, they don’t provide a platform stable enough to support human weight.
Therefore, the milk crate challenge rarely ends in success. The unfortunate participant falls to the floor as the crate structure crumbles. These failed attempts – and the few successful ones – have attracted millions of views across Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
The milk crate challenge was started by Facebook users inspired by a 2011 YouTube video
The milk crate challenge is based on a YouTube video by JoyRidersTV Bonus Footy posted on 23rd June 2011.
In the clip, a guy runs across a staircase of milk crates before falling and injuring himself.
The video inspired Facebook users Jordan Browne and Kenneth Waddell to start the milk crate challenge.
The pair recreated the video and posted the results on Facebook to a viral reception.
YouTubers JC and ANT took the challenge to a public park in Detroit and filmed people doing it. Many fell, but none of them seemed concerned about the health risks involved. JC told Fox:
“As soon as we posted, 200 shares, quick, like everybody wanted to do it. We are in Detroit, everybody tough out there you feel me? It’s all fun. We’re young and dumb. You only live once.”
Marc D’Andre, an influencer from Detroit, set up the challenge but didn’t go through with it. “I just went back down,” Marc told Fox. “I wasn’t about to play with that. I just turned 40, my bones is not going to recover the same way.”
The milk crate is dangerous and could cause life-long injuries
Via a reply to Conan O’Brien’s tweet, the FDA recommended that the comedian refrains from participating in the milk crate challenge.
The tweet echoed statements by medical health professionals warning people about the dangers of the viral challenge. Dr. Rajwinder Deu told USA Today that the list of injuries one can get from the milk crate challenge is endless.
“You can open up a textbook, and all injuries are on the table,” he said. “Everything depends on your fall, what angle you fall and what part of your body hits the ground first.”
Dr. Crystal Arthur told Fox that participants in the challenge risk getting life-long injuries. “If you dislocate your shoulder at 22, you’re probably going to have issues when you’re 65,” the doctor said.
Worse still, injuries from the challenge could put further stress on hospitals overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Shawn Anthony told TODAY:
“Emergency rooms across the country are already overcrowded and elective surgeries are being delayed or postponed due to lack of hospital beds. This social media challenge puts unnecessary stress on our health system and health care providers.”