'Star' pupil, 12, dies after recreating scene from Squid Game, inquest hears
Sebastian Cizman was found dead at his home in Castleford in June
A "star" schoolboy was found dead after recreating a scene from the Netflix show Squid Game, an inquest heard.
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Sebastian Cizman died hours after sharing a picture of a character from the hit show.
The 12-year-old was found hanging at his home on June 27 and was sadly pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
The schoolboy had been playing in the garden of his home in Castleford when he went back inside, saying he was tired, an inquest in Wakefield heard.
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His cousin then found him hanging after taking him an ice cream upstairs which his father had bought after finishing work, Yorkshire Live reports.
Sebastian was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.
On the day of his death, it was discovered that he had shared an image of a character from the game who was found hanging.
The inquest heard Sebastian was described as a "prankster" and was popular at school and entertained his friends, and previously pretended to be unconscious while play fighting.
Having spoken to his family, police believed that he may have been trying to recreate what he had seen on Squid Game, but things had gone wrong.
An investigation found no evidence that Sebastian had searched for any dangerous challenges via TikTok, but he had viewed Squid Games and had also searched YouTube for a first-aid video about "surviving choking alone."
The inquest heard that the "speculation" surrounding dangerous challenges had been put forward shortly after his death but police had found no evidence to support it.
His family had discussed the dangers of such online challenges with him and he said that he wouldn't try them.
Detective Sergeant Paul Bayliss, who investigated the circumstances, said Sebastian's interest in Squid Game, and the character who took their own life in the image, coupled with his "prankster nature", had provided a hypothesis to explain the death.
Assistant coroner John Hobson concluded that Sebastian died due to misadventure.
Dr Philip Dore, headteacher at St Wilfred's Catholic High School, said Sebastian had been a "popular, happy and funny pupil" who was good at making his class laugh, and had previously been named as "star of the class."
In a statement, Sebastian's parents, Marcin and Katarzyna, said that they believed his death was caused by a tragic accident.