‘Hot Water Challenge’ Leaves Indiana Teen With Second-Degree Burns

Stock photo of an ambulance. Michael Gil via Wikimedia Commons

A teen in Indianapolis, Indiana, says he suffered second-degree burns to his face and body after friends poured boiling water on him as part of the “Hot Water Challenge” that’s gone viral on YouTube and elsewhere.

Kyland Clark said he and his friends watched videos of the challenge on YouTube before he fell asleep. His friend attempted the challenge as a joke, Fox 59 reported.

“My skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and, on my face,” he told the station. “There’s a limit to what you should do in a challenge and what you shouldn’t,” Clark told Fox 59. “Don’t take it overboard.”

Clark was hospitalized for a week. Doctors hope that the pigment will return to his face in several months.

They issued a warning about the “Hot Water Challenge,” saying that it can cause permanent injuries or death.

“If your friends are telling you to do this, they aren’t good friends,” Dr. Ed Bartkus, of Indiana University Health, was quoted by Fox 59 as saying.

In August 2017, an 8-year-old girl died after she allegedly drank boiling water through a straw on a dare, CBS News reported. Ki'ari Pope of Florida suffered breathing problems later that night and lost consciousness. Her mother then called 911. The girl died days later in the hospital.

Ki'ari’s family said that she watched videos of the challenge.

“Parents, talk to your kids about these challenges,” Ki'ari’s aunt Diane Johnson said. “Don’t just let it go by and just give them your phone and let them be. No. Watch what they’re watching.”