12-year-old boy severely burned when friends set him ablaze for a ‘fire challenge’
A 12-year-old Michigan boy was severely burned when his friends set him ablaze as part of a so-called “fire challenge,” according to a report.
The victim’s mom, Tabatha Cleary of Dearborn Heights, said her son Jason was hospitalized for four days with second-degree burns to his chin, chest and stomach because his friends set him on fire Saturday after seeing the disturbing social media trend on YouTube, WDIV-TV reports.
“I just want everybody to know that these challenges, or whatever they’re watching on YouTube, is not worth risking your life,” Cleary told the station. “My son got [second-degree burns], and it could’ve been way worse.”
Cleary said her son at first willingly took part in the challenge — where participants set each other on fire using flammable liquids before being extinguished — but things soon took a scary turn when one of his friends continued to douse him with nail polish remover.
Cleary heard her son, who was at a nearby friend’s house in Dearborn Heights, screaming while still on fire outside the other family’s home.
“So we came running out, and that’s when his friend, Bryce, was riding him on the bike with no shirt on,” Cleary continued. “And I immediately started to freak out. I’m like, ‘Take him to the hospital! Take him to the hospital!’ ”
One of the boy’s friends swatted out the flames when they tried the challenge the first time — but that didn’t happen during a second try, the injured child said.
“They kept spraying it on me,” Jason Cleary said of the nail polish remover. “Once my dad finally opened the door and said, ‘Let’s go to the hospital,’ I was in the backseat, still in much, much pain.”
A police investigation into the incident is ongoing, and child welfare workers have since visited the family’s home, WDIV said.
A message left for Dearborn Heights police was not immediately returned Friday.
Cleary, who posted a photo of her son recovering in a hospital bed Thursday, could not be reached for comment.