Fire Challenge Gone Wrong: Internet Stunt Results In Skin Grafts For UK Boy

You know the latest Internet trend is a bad idea when it ends with someone on fire, even in the best circumstances. But that hasn't stopped hundreds of people from uploading videos of themselves taking the “Fire Challenge.”

It's an online fad where people pour a small amount of flammable liquid on themselves, set it on fire and put out the flame after a few seconds while a friend records the prank. Guess what: it goes wrong a lot. YouTube is littered with videos of young teenagers dousing themselves in alcohol or perfume and lighting a flame only for the fire to spread, often resulting in a trip to the hospital.

The latest victim is an 11-year-old boy in Brigg, England who needed a skin graft after setting fire to his tee shirt. The boy put out the fire but, upon trying the stunt a second time, was unable to contain the blaze. The injuries stretched along his torso, requiring skin graft surgery and possibly forcing the boy to spend Christmas in a hospital bed, the Mirror reported Tuesday.

“This reckless activity is not only endangering the lives of the participants, but putting other lives at risk if towels or carpets ignite as the flames spread,” a spokesman for Humberside Fire and Rescue told the British newspaper. “The craze now appears to have surfaced in our region.”

A Florida teenager was placed on life support in October after trying the fire challenge. Robert Seals, 15, was transported to an Ohio burn treatment center after covering himself in rubbing alcohol and asking a friend to light him on fire with a lighter, causing serious burns on his neck, shoulders and throughout his upper body.