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Girl, 8, dies months after being dared to drink boiling water through a straw.

An eight-year-old girl in the U.S. has died four months after she was dared to drink boiling water through a straw, an act that lead to several health complications.

Ki’ari Pope from Florida was dared by her cousin, also eight years old, to drink boiling water through a straw in March. The pair had seen it done on YouTube and thought they’d try it themselves.

According to the GoFundMe page set up for her funeral expenses, the little girl needed a tracheostomy after the water scalded her insides. She was left with chronic respiratory issues, deafness and problems talking.

Ki’ari Pope. Image via GoFundMe.
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On Sunday night, Ki'ari came out of her bedroom late at night to tell her mother's partner she was having trouble breathing, Buzzfeed News reports. The 29-year-old man reportedly left the room, and when he returned he found Ki'ari unresponsive.

Ambulance staff rushed her to hospital, but the little girl was pronounced dead at 12:15 on Monday morning.

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State authorities are aware of at least nine allegations of either abuse or neglect involving Ki'ari since her birth, Palm Beach Post reports. Records reportedly show four of those incidences occurred within the last seven months.

"The loss of this child is truly devastating and our condolences go out to all those who loved her," Department Secretary Mike Carroll said in a statement on Wednesday, the Post reports.

"We have opened a child death investigation to examine the circumstances surrounding her death and will deploy a Critical Incident Rapid Response Team to review all interactions this family has had with Florida’s child welfare system."

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