An Indiana family is warning others after a 15-year-old boy was left with severe burns in a dangerous prank called the “Hot Water Challenge.”
Kyland Clark and a friend were reportedly researching the so-called challenge, which calls for either drinking boiling water or pouring it on a friend, when Clark fell asleep. He later woke up to his friend pouring hot on water on him as part of the prank.
The teen told an Indianapolis news station he ran to the bathroom to try to escape the pain. That’s when he said he saw the skin on his chest “just fell off.”
“Then I went and I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and on my face,” he told WXIN.
Clark reportedly suffered second-degree burns on his back, chest and face and was hospitalized for a week. His mother told the station it was “heartbreaking” to witness, but Clark is expected to heal from his injuries.
Dr. Ed Bartkus with IU Health told WXIN they’re seeing more and more patients in emergency rooms with injuries stemming from so-called internet challenges, but this one in particular could result in permanent disfigurement or possibly even death if airways are burned.
Last August, an 11-year-old girl was left severely burned when her 12-year-old friend dumped boiling water on her during a sleepover. The scorching water burned much of her upper body, including her face, back, shoulders, neck and chest, police said. The 12-year-old girl was arrested and charged with assault, according to authorities.
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That same month, an 8-year-old girl in Florida died, months after drinking boiling water from a straw, on a dare from her cousin after they watched a video from YouTube.
