1 hour ago
3
A 9-year-old boy in Chicago was nearly blinded after he was inspired by an old TikTok trend to microwave his NeeDoh sensory toy — which exploded in his face.
Caleb Chabolla, 9, heated up his NeeDoh Nice Cube in the microwave at his Chicago home after one of his friends told him the trick would make the rubber sensory toy more pliable.
His mother, Whitney Grubb, told ABC 7 she heard a blood-curdling shriek coming from their kitchen as Caleb sobbed, “It burns, it burns!”
The exterior of the cube is made of a non-toxic silicone — but the inside holds a glue-like substance that starts to sizzle and expand until it bursts when exposed to extreme heat.
That same substance splattered all over Caleb’s face when he opened the microwave.
“The right side of his face was kind of melting off, basically,” Grubb told the outlet.
Horrifying photos of Caleb at the hospital show him with a baseball-sized welt on one side of his face and red splotches trailing all the way down to his lip.
Grubb told CBS News that Caleb suffered second-degree burns on his face and hands. Once they arrived at Loyola University Medical Center, the jelly-like substance had left such deep burns that the doctors had to cut away dead skin.
He miraculously didn’t require any skin grafts, but will likely develop scars, his doctor told the outlet.
Caleb told ABC 7 that he essentially blacked out — a small mercy as the goop charred his skin.
“Just think before you act,” the tyke sagely advised.
He said he didn’t know his friend’s suggestion was part of a viral trend. Still, Grubb called on social media outlets to better monitor their platforms’ content and what younger users can access.
“These people don’t know the repercussions of what these challenges and goofy trends can do to kids, especially the younger ones,” Grubb told the outlet.
When the TikTok trend Caleb’s friend unknowingly spread went viral in last year, NeeDoh added a specific warning label to its products cautioning customers against freezing and heating the sensory toys.
Caleb is the fourth Chicago-area boy to be treated for burns tied to NeeDoh accidents, according to the Loyola University Medical Center.
Last March, a 7-year-old girl was placed in a medically-induced coma for three days after she attempted the same TikTok trend.
Her lips were so badly burned that she was placed on a feeding tube and she required a skin graft.
English (US)