There’s a slew of dangerous viral challenges out there. From the recent “In My Feelings” challenge that pressures people to jump out of moving vehicles, to the Tide Pod challenge that endangered the lives of teens everywhere and now has its own wiki.
Unfortunately 15-year-old Kyland Clark is the latest victim of viral peer pressure, sustaining second-degree burns after participating in something dubbed the #hotwaterchallenge. It bares resemblance to the popular #icebucketchallenge from a few years back in that it dares people to douse themselves in water, only this time that water is boiling hot.
Clark and his friend looked up the challenge online, and when the teen fell asleep, his friend decided to pour the hot water on him as a joke. What happened next is the textbook definition of "it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt." "I looked down at my chest, and my skin just fell off my chest," he told Fox59.
"To see my baby all burned up like that—it was heartbreaking," his mother Andrea added.
Fortunately Clark’s burns are expected to heal, but he’s not the only victim of this viral challenge. The challenge also calls on participants to drink boiling hot water out of a straw. As Health points out, 8-year-old Ki’ari Pope died last year after attempting the drinking version. She got the idea watching videos on YouTube.
“There’s a limit to what you should do in a challenge and what you shouldn’t. Don’t take it overboard,” Clark said.
It’s definitely not remotely worth getting injured or losing your life over some internet clout, so stay safe y’all and think before you get bamboozled into trying the next viral challenge.
