Russian influencer Mariana Barutkina has sustained a serious spinal injury after attempting the viral ‘stiletto challenge’, a trend inspired by Nicki Minaj’s pose in the High School music video.
The 32-year-old, just eight weeks postpartum, attempted the challenge at home, balancing in stilettos on a jar of baby food placed on a saucepan atop a kitchen counter.
The original pose features Minaj crouching next to a swimming pool with one leg crossed over the other while wearing stilettos. The difficult balancing act has inspired many to attempt recreations online.
Footage of the fall quickly went viral, showing the influencer lose her balance and fall backwards off the counter.
She was later diagnosed with a compression flexion fracture in her spine. “I decided to start a blog, my first content shoot — and here I am leaving the doctor’s with a diagnosis,” she wrote on Instagram. “Irony? Karma? Or just life, which always tests our strength at the most unexpected moment.”
The incident has sparked criticism online, with users questioning her judgement. Others expressed concern for her child, prompting Barutkina to clarify: “Whoever worries about my child should also be calm, he has two nannies and while I was filming one of them was with him.”
Some supporters wished her well, while others suggested her fall marked the end of the trend.
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