- A 15-year-old boy suffered second-degree burns after a friend poured boiling water on him as a “joke.”
- The joke is part of the Boiling Water Challenge, where you pour boiling water over someone or make them drink boiling water through a straw.
- Boiling water at 212 degrees Fahrenheit can cause severe second- or third-degree burns to the skin, requiring immediate medical attention.
I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would pour boiling water on another person, but hey, it happens.
It’s called the “Hot Water Challenge,” and it involves either pouring boiling water over someone or forcing someone to drink boiling water through a straw, according to ABC News 10.
Kyland Clark is 15 years old and says he and a friend looked up the Hot Water Challenge on YouTube and decided to prank each other. So, while Kailand was sleeping, his friend poured boiling water on him as a joke.
“Then I looked down at my chest, and the skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and the skin was falling off here and on my face,” Kailand said.
Kyland suffered second-degree burns to his back, chest and face and had to stay in the hospital for treatment for a week.
Unfortunately, this trend is not new. Dating back to last year, Instagram videos have been posted of people doing the Hot Water Challenge, sometimes on themselves. And in July 2017, an 8-year-old girl died after trying to force her cousin to drink boiling water, according to Tampa Bay ABC affiliate WFTS.. The girl suffered severe burns to her throat and mouth after drinking the water. The challenge left her deaf and she suffered from a chronic respiratory disease, WFTS reported.
In case it’s not entirely clear why you should never pour boiling water on someone (or even drink it on purpose), here’s a quick refresher: Boiling water can cause second-degree burns. May cause serious burns to the body, including (affecting the top of the head). According to the Mayo Clinic, third-degree burns (which reach the fatty layer under the skin and can cause nerve damage) are possible.
Like sunburns, first-degree burns do not always require medical attention, but second- and third-degree burns do. And believe me, you’ll know if you have it.
“Second-degree burns are painful and often cause blistering,” says Reid Caldwell, MD, assistant professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at New York University Langone Health. “Third degree burns are when the skin looks very pale and thick, or you can actually see muscle, fat and bone,” he added.
If you teeth If you suffer a burn from boiling water, it is important to treat it quickly. “The first step in any type of burn is to remove what is causing the burn,” says Caldwell. That means removing your soaked clothes as quickly as possible and rushing to the emergency room for treatment (according to the National Institutes of Health, treatment usually includes topical antibiotics and sterile bandages to prevent infection). It is included).
The best way to prevent this from happening is through precautions (like teaching your kids and “friends” not to do things like this), but it’s important to keep boiling water as far away from your home as possible. It’s also a good idea to. .
The Mayo Clinic specifically recommends setting your water heater’s thermostat below 120 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid scalding yourself while showering or bathing. FYI: The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, don’t pour that water on anyone (or drink it yourself).
Kyland, who is expected to recover from his injuries, said he wanted to warn others not to take on the challenge. “There are limits to what you should and shouldn’t do in a challenge. Don’t overdo it,” he said.
Colin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, and his work has appeared in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. It is published. She earned her master’s degree from American University, lives near the beach, and hopes to one day own a teacup pig and taco truck.
