YouTube fire challenge stunt gone wrong burns 12-year-old Queens boy

In 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge became viral on social media with even celebrities joining the trend. Although the challenge was for a good cause and relatively harmless, nevertheless there were some accidents that happened such as the entire drum of water hitting the head of the challenger.

The New York Post reports of a dangerous YouTube stunt which is far more dangerous that the ice bucket challenge and is being done for fun. In a number of times, the stunt went awry, injuring the challenger.

The fire challenge involves splashing your body with rubbing alcohol, setting it ablaze and dousing it immediately with water. In a five-minute video compilation posted on YouTube, it shows male teens – mostly black – setting themselves on fire and dousing it by jumping into a pool of water or turning on the shower. Not all attempts to douse the fire immediately are successful.

On Tuesday, a 12-year-old Queens boy was critically injured when he took up the challenge and failed. He suffered third-degree burns which covered over 40 percent of his body. He took the challenge at about 8:30 pm at his Far Rockaway home on Watjean Court while standing in the bathtub. The boy was rushed to the Nassau University Medical Center Burn Center.

Comments on the YouTube compilation criticised the folly of the teens doing the challenge. Saltycruch points out, “If their level of intellect is so low that they need to be told ‘don’t pour lighter fluid on yourself and light yourself on fire,’ well … maybe we’re best left to leave them to their own devices. It’s not even intellect, it’s basic self-preservation.”

Maldrannon points out “there is no cure for bad judgement. It’s not something education can fix, it’s not something experience can fix.” Yeti95 adds, “My f**king generation is the dumbest,” to which Rudolfo Orozco agrees, “our generation is as dumb as hell.”