Mother warns parents after daughter overdoses on Benadryl during birthday outing

Investigative Reporter

MANCHESTER, Ohio —

A woman is warning other families after her 12-year-old daughter overdosed on Benadryl during a birthday trip to the movies, influenced by the “Benadryl challenge” circulating on social media.

Victoria Clark said she had warned her daughter about the deadly risks of misusing drugs, but never imagined her child would consume multiple Benadryl tablets. Clark realized something was wrong when her daughter collapsed inside the dark theater a few weeks ago.

“It was like staring in the face of a demon,” Clark said.

Clark described the terrifying moments when her daughter began screaming, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I’m so sorry. God’s punishing me.”

After helping her daughter outside, Clark realized the severity of the situation.

“I realize her face is blue. Her hands are blue,” she said. “I can literally feel her heart beating through her stomach. And it just was sheer terror. And she had tears streaming down her face, and she just kept saying, like, ‘I’m sorry. I don’t want to die.'”

Medics arrived quickly to provide care, and Clark pressed her daughter’s friends for answers.

“One of them steps forward, and they’re like, ‘She took a bunch of Benadryl.’ She said that she took Benadryl,” Clark said.

Clark later learned her daughter, unbeknownst to her, had purchased the allergy medicine at a local store using birthday money from her grandmother and waited until her birthday to take it. The girl told her mother she had seen social media videos of other kids abusing Benadryl and thought she would get high while watching the movie. Instead, she became delirious and ended up at the hospital.

“She was talking crazy. Absolutely, just like nothing she said made sense,” Clark said.

Clark, a drug and alcohol counselor, said she was shocked by her daughter’s actions.

“I’m a drug and alcohol counselor. I’ve got all the book knowledge. I’ve been very raw. She’s very educated. She’s very intelligent for her age. I would have never (seen) this out of her,” she said.

While her daughter has physically recovered, Clark said both are still grappling with emotional trauma. She hopes her story will serve as a warning to other parents.

“The biggest takeaway from all this is that you can do all the right things. You can try to educate them, you know, but you should never limit yourself to the possibility that it could be your child,” Clark said.

Clark credited the medics and doctors who treated her daughter and said her faith in God helped her through the ordeal.

“I cried and I prayed and I told her, ‘This is not the end. This is not your story,'” Clark said.

“I’m like, I know you are going to make it. Don’t be afraid. This is not the end. And I prayed over her and I just, I felt peace, a peace that you just can’t even fathom in the middle of the most traumatic event. Because I know He was letting me know, ‘I’ve got her,'” she said.

Clark said she was surprised to learn her daughter could buy Benadryl herself. Experts warn that while the medicine can be helpful when taken correctly, consuming too much can lead to hallucinations, seizures and potentially fatal heart problems.