A nine-year-old boy in Illinois suffered severe burns after attempting a dangerous TikTok trend involving the use of a microwave.
Caleb was preparing for school on the morning of January 20, when he switched on the microwave at his family’s home in Plainfield as his mother, Whitney Grubb, assisted her other son in getting ready to leave.
Whitney thought Caleb was heating up his breakfast, but all of that changed when she heard a ‘blood-curdling scream’ from him, she told the Chicago Sun Times.
Caleb was actually microwaving a Needoh cube, a popular sensory toy or stress ball, filled with a thick gel substance.
The online challenge shows people placing the toy in the appliance so they can soften it up since they firm up over time.
But when Caleb opened the microwave door, the toy exploded on his face and hands, leaving him with excruciating burns.
‘When I asked what happened, he told me that a friend at school told him about putting it in the microwave,’ Grubb told the outlet.
‘It wasn’t anything malicious, it was just kids sharing stories, and unfortunately, he decided to try it.’
The worried mother tried her best to wipe the piping hot gelatinous material off his face in the shower, but it was too thick and caused too much pain, so she rushed him to the hospital.
After spending some time in the emergency room, the young boy was transferred to Loyola Burn Center in Maywood.
Caleb was left with second-degree burns to his face, hands, and another behind one of his ears.
His eye was also ‘completely swollen shut’ after the toy exploded, Grubb told CBS News.
According to Kelly McElligott, a burn outreach coordinator with Loyola, Caleb was left in so much pain because the gelatin material is ‘so vicious.’
‘Because it’s so viscous, it sticks, and it stays hot longer, it’s going to cause a more significant burn,’ McElligott told the outlet.
Caleb eventually had all of his burns washed, his dead skin cut away, and ointment applied to his injuries.
Thankfully, an ophthalmologist said the boy’s eye was not damaged from the mishap.
He spent two days in the hospital and did not need skin grafts, but could develop scars from the burns.
