TikTok is no stranger to dangerous viral trends. After the viral Benadryl trend claimed the life of a US teenager, a similar challenge has left a 16-year-old boy with third-degree burns. According to New York Post, a teenager in North Carolina has been disfigured, with burns covering nearly 75% of his body after attempting a TikTok challenge that went horribly wrong.
Notably, the challenge involves using a lighter and spray to create a makeshift blowtorch. As per the report, Mason Dark and his friends were attempting the trend last Sunday when the can of spray paint he was holding exploded with a huge bang, consuming the teens in flames.
To soothe the burns, Mason jumped into a nearby river but emerged with charred skin. He was rushed to the hospital where he remains in the UNC Burn Center and is expected to be there for at least six months. On April 26, Mason went into surgery to get skin grafts to start the long healing process.
''[We] come to find out now from the surgery, that he's got the third-degree burns… it's like a T in his back and it was from him taking off his shirt, and then it got stuck or something,'' his mother Holli Dark, told WRAL.
''He's unrecognizable. Unrecognizable,'' she added.
The boy's grandmother also set up a GoFundMe page on his behalf.
A note by his mother reads, ''My son Mason, needs your prayers. 75% of his body is burned. The accident occurred on the afternoon of Sunday, April 23, 2023. He jumped into a river to extinguish the flames. The risk of infection from the river water is high, on top of having 2nd and 3rd-degree burns. We are thankful to be at the UNC Burn Center in Chapel Hill. It is one of the top in the nation. Mason has a long road ahead of him. Please pray for his recovery. He is in an incredible amount of pain and is sedated."
The incident comes days after a 13-year-old boy from Ohio, US died after overdosing on over-the-counter medication while attempting a viral TikTok trend. The teenager died after ingesting 12 to 14 pills of Benadryl, an antihistamine as part of the 'Benadryl Challenge' on the social media platform TikTok.
