Meet YouTuber Cody Don, The Man Who Drinks Deadly Chemicals On Camera

Cyanide is one of the most deadly chemicals. When consumed, it can interfere with the body’s ability to use oxygen. Symptoms of cyanide poisoning begin to appear within a few seconds to minutes, depending on the quantity consumed. Naturally, anyone would stay away from this poisonous chemical. But not Cody Reeder, an American educator, amateur scientist and YouTube sensation. Cody Don Reeder from Grantsville in Utah, USA, is famous for carrying out scientific experiments on his YouTube channel, Cody’s Lab. He grabbed media attention in 2016, after he shared a video of himself drinking water which contained small and diluted amounts of cyanide. He wanted to prove how the dosage of the deadly chemical defined its toxicity. He drank 17 mg of cyanide dissolved in water. Shortly after drinking, he claimed that he experienced symptoms like rapid breathing. Reportedly, Cody warned people not to copy his actions or try this at home. He further mentioned that it could be fatal and informed that a 300mg dosage of cyanide can kill a human. His video was removed from the channel. He conducted similar other experiments, where he drank heavy water and hydric acid and breathed in all the noble gases.

Cody Reeder joined YouTube in 2011 and began to post his experiments to show his grandmother. In an interview, he explained that he would do science experiments all the time, and then people started watching them. In October 2015, his channel gained 1 lakh subscribers. Six months later, when he did not receive the silver play button from YouTube, he decided to celebrate his 2.5 lakh subscribers by making a homemade play button out of genuine silver. Quickly, he became the talk of the town and garnered more and more views.

The man has not just tried cyanide, but also experimented with liquid mercury, by trying to stand on it. It resulted in him floating “above the bottom of the container”. He has also chewed gold. He also received considerable media attention after he became one of the 100 finalists for Mars One, a defunct Mars colonisation program.