'Unrecognizable': Boy burned over 76% of his body after dangerous TikTok challenge

'Unrecognizable': Boy burned over 76% of his body after dangerous TikTok challenge



A boy participating in a TikTok challenge was burned over 76% of his body when a makeshift flamethrower blew up, engulfing him in flames, WRAL reported.

"He's unrecognizable. Unrecognizable," Mason Dark's mother, Holli Dark, told the outlet, describing her son's current condition.

Mason Dark, 16, was severely injured in the ensuing explosion after accepting a dare to use a lighter and a can of spray paint to make a torch April 23.

Mason, a 16-year-old student athlete at Heritage High School in Wake Forest, North Carolina, is now at the University of North Carolina's Burn Center, where he will likely remain for at least six months.

Photos of Mason in his hospital room show him covered in dressings, connected to a ventilator and other medical devices.

Mason underwent surgery Wednesday for skin grafts, the outlet reported. His mother described the process as "like seeding a lawn" to see the teen's skin slowly heal.

Holli Dark told the outlet Mason immediately jumped in a river in an attempt to soothe the pain. When he tried to take off his shirt, she explained, "it got stuck or something," and created third degree burns in the shape of a "T" on his back.

Heidi Simpson, Mason's grandmother, has posted several updates on her grandson's condition. In the most recent update, Mason's "BoBo" says that he is having a rough time being weaned from the ventilator.

Simpson describes Mason as a "very active 16 year old" who plays football at his high school and runs track in the summer. She says he has a job he enjoys and looks forward to getting his license.

Simpson set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to support her grandson's care. As of Sunday afternoon, the campaign had raised over $30,000.

In a Saturday update, Simpson expressed her gratitude for the prayers, love, support, and generous donations.

"We are humbled by everyone’s kindness! We thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, support and love. Thank you for everyone that has offered help with [Mason's 13-year-old brother] Austin or help with other needs. Please keep praying!!!! The Lord is in control," Simpson wrote.

Watch WRAL's coverage of the horrific, life-threatening injuries sustained by 16-year-old Mason Dark after participating in a TikTok challenge to make a mini flamethrower.



Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

10 children sent to a hospital over TikTok challenge at Massachusetts grade school



Officials are warning parents about a TikTok challenge after ten children were sent to a hospital for treatment at an elementary school in Massachusetts.

The incident resulted in a massive reaction from first responders to the Dexter Park School on Tuesday in the city of Orange in the western part of the state.

A student apparently brought extremely spicy gum to the school and gave it to others during recess.

Orange Fire Chief James Young Jr. said the gum was rated at about 16 million Scoville heat units, which is a measurement of the pungency of spices.

“Which is equivalent to basically what’s commonly referred to as pepper spray, so a very spicy or hot agent that the kids were exposed to,” Young said. “It can cause skin irritation, as well as respiratory and airway inflammation.”

Officials believe the student brought the gum to the school because it has become popular as a part of a social media challenge on TikTok.

Amelia Dynice, a parent of a student at the school, said she was shocked to find out the gum was available on Amazon.

“That’s scary,” said Dynice. “Shouldn’t be able to buy that on Amazon.”

The superintendent of the school said that they were investigating the incident and that appropriate "disciplinary action" would be taken at the end of their probe.

Young said parents should speak to their children about these kinds of incidents.

“Kids are curious and they are going to investigate things like this, but not to bring things like this to school,” he said.

“Don’t share products amongst each other, and if you see something, say something to the adults that are in charge of the school, so they can prevent something like this from happening," Young concluded.

Lawmakers in some states have banned TikTok from official government applications over concerns about Chinese communist surveillance. Some members of the U.S. Congress have also called for a nationwide ban on the application.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

TikTok gum challenge to blame for 10 students' trip to hospital www.youtube.com

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

20-year-old OnlyFans star suffered a heart attack after attempting the 'dry scooping' TikTok challenge



A 20-year-old stripper and OnlyFans star said that she suffered a heart attack when she attempted the "dry scooping" challenge on TikTok.

"I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. Especially because I'm so young," said Briatney Portillo to The New York Post.

The dry scooping challenge involves the ingestion of a heaping scoop of undiluted supplemental energy powder. The powder is usually mixed with water or milk to make a drink before a work out.

Portillo posted a video of herself with a clown filter on April 15 after her heart attack.

"Taking a dry pre-workout scoop because I saw it trending on TikTok," she said on the short video. "Ending up in the hospital because I had a heart attack."

Her video went viral and while many were skeptical of her claim, she detailed her reaction to the challenge to Buzzfeed.

"After I took the pre-workout, I started to feel tingly and itchy all over my body, which wasn't a good feeling, but I googled it and it said that was a normal side effect, so I began to do my workout," Portillo said.

"I started to feel a heavy feeling in my chest and slight pain, but it wasn't too bad. I thought it was maybe anxiety or a bad panic attack, so I decided to just ignore it and push through my workout," she explained.

Portillo said she later experienced the symptoms of a heart attack and called 911. She says that emergency personnel didn't take her seriously because she was about to start her job as a stripper.

"The cops and EMTs were like, 'Maybe it's just anxiety because you're about to dance,'" she said. "But I don't have anxiety about dancing. At the time, I wasn't sure what my body was going through but I knew something was way off."

She said she was admitted to a hospital where she was told she suffered a minor cardiac episode. She was released the next day.

Portillo fared better than Destini Crane, a 13-year-old from Portland, Oregon, who tried to emulate a TikTok video and accidentally suffered severe burns when she set fire to a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

Here's more about the exploding TikTok challenge:

Portland Teen in ICU after attempting fire TikTok challengewww.youtube.com