Some viral challenges and pranks can be funny (cinnamon challenge), hard (the bread challenge) or just downright charitable (the ice bucket challenge.) But nowadays with games such as the Blue Whale game and challenges like the hot water challenge, things have become much more dangerous for kids who are easily susceptible to these new, trendy gimmicks.
The hot water challenge is a ‘challenge’ or a ‘game’ where one unsuspecting person is doused with hot, boiling water. And it is as painful and potentially fatal as it sounds.
In another version, the kids have to drink the boiling water in order to complete the challenge.
The “challenge” has already claimed some lives. So far, eight-year-old Ki’ari Pope passed away after drinking boiling water through a straw in March. She was hospitalized with a tracheotomy, loss of hearing, and chronic respiratory problems. The young girl, unfortunately, succumbed to the severity of her wounds.
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An 11-year-old was hospitalized in August after her friends threw hot water on her. Another teen from Arkansas had to be hospitalized after sustaining first and second-degree burns on his neck while he slept.
YouTubeThe damage could have been deadly. It only takes seconds to cause third-degree burns (when water reaches about 140 degrees Fahrenheit.)
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And more recently, a 15-year-old boy and six of his friends were over at a sleepover when he unknowingly volunteered for the hot water challenge.
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The 15-year-old said that he woke up screaming and crying after feeling an intense, burning sensation on his neck.
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During a television interview, the boy said: ‘I felt this really bad burning on my neck … I laid in bed for two hours and finally got up. I went to the bathroom and realized that this had happened then they told me they had poured the hot water on me.’
YouTubeThe boy rushed home and was taken to the hospital by his mother. The group of friends claims that they didn’t realize how hot the water truly was.
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It has been reported that the boys are no longer friends anymore and his mother is hoping that other parents are aware and speak out about the dangers of these insane challenges.
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