The father of an Oklahoma teen who tragically succumbed to a Benadryl overdose captured a video of himself confronting a retail employee for selling the medication to his other daughter.
Fifteen-year-old Leah Presson passed away on June 14 at an Oklahoma City hospital after reportedly consuming a lethal amount of Benadryl, allegedly inspired by a social media ‘challenge’.
This dangerous trend has circulated on TikTok and other platforms for years, where videos suggest teens ingest large doses of the allergy medication to experience hallucinations—leading to tragic outcomes for several teenagers.
Just three days following Leah’s passing, her father, Richard Presson, filmed a video with Leah’s older sister at what seems to be a gas station to determine if the cashier would sell Benadryl to the minor.
“This is my 17-year-old daughter. We’re seeing if they’ll sell her Benadryl,” Richard announces at the video’s commencement, as the teenage girl waits in line.
Once she got to the counter, the worker scanned the Benadryl and was ready to sell it without a second thought. Richard then walked up and stopped the transaction.
‘Take that Benadryl off there please,’ he told the seemingly surprised employee. ‘Kids are overdosing on that sh**. My daughter just died from it. I was gonna see if you’d sell it to her,’ he said.
‘There’s a Benadryl challenge all over Facebook and TikToks, and my daughter just died from…’ Richard continued before the worker finished his sentence and said, ‘overdose.’
Leah Presson, 15, died after allegedly overdosing on Benadryl because of a ‘challenge’ on social media
Leah’s father, Richard Presson, recorded a video while testing whether a shopworker would sell his other, 17-year-old daughter Benadryl
Richard is pictured stopping the transaction after the worker was about to sell the Benadryl to his 17-year-old and telling the employee that his 15-year-old overdosed on the medication
According to the University of Utah, the threshold for a fatal Benadryl overdose is typically about 20 mg per kilogram a person weighs.
The average weight of a 15-year-old girl is 52kg to 58kg. That would make a fatal dose around 1.04 grams to 1.16 grams for a girl in that weight range.
A regular Benadryl pill contains 25 mg of the active ingredient, Diphenhydramine HCl, which can cause an overdose. It would take between 42 and 47 pills to reach the fatal threshold.
Walgreens sells 24 tablet packs of Benadryl for $7, meaning it would cost a teen just $14 to purchase enough of the pills to kill them.
Despite the ease of buying enough Benadryl to kill, there is no federal age limit on purchasing the medication.
Benadryl has a warning on its website that says: ‘When taking any over-the-counter medicine, always read the drug facts label carefully and use only as directed.’ The company also has an official ‘dosing guide’ for its products.
Laws can vary by state, county or city, and some stores implement independent policies to prevent people under 18 from purchasing Benadryl, but there is no universal restriction on selling it over the counter.
In the Oklahoma City area, where the Presson family lives, there are no age restrictions or prescription requirements to buy Benadryl.
Leah is pictured in an Oklahoma City hospital bed hooked up to a ventilator. She died on June 14
Leah’s family described her as ‘a beautiful, outspoken young lady whose presence could never be ignored’
But the Pressons are trying to change that. According to a joint Facebook post shared by Leah’s father and stepmother, the family is trying to enact ‘Leah’s Law.’
The law ‘would require identification and age verification for the purchase of over-the-counter medications that can be abused by minors,’ the father and wife wrote.
‘Our beautiful Leah is not a statistic. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a light in so many lives. A dangerous trend involving the misuse of over-the-counter medication stole her future, and our family will carry that pain forever,’ they continued.
‘If one simple step — showing an ID or meeting a minimum age requirement — can save even one child, then it is worth fighting for,’ the father and wife argued.
In a later post, the couple described Leah as ‘a beautiful, outspoken young lady whose presence could never be ignored.’
‘She lived life with honesty, passion, and a heart that loved fiercely. When Leah cared about someone, she loved them with her whole heart, and that love was something you could truly feel,’ they said.
The family held a celebration of life for their daughter on June 24.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Benadryl for comment.