By Kayla DeKraker
A new dangerous social media trend resulted in a teenage girl facing potentially life-altering injuries.
A teen from Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, attempted a viral “fire-breathing” challenge that emergency officials now warn could easily have killed her. The 14-year-old was hospitalized with severe burns after trying to mimic a social media stunt involving isopropyl alcohol, a practice that fire officials say is extremely dangerous and not meant for human use.
According to authorities, the teen used isopropyl alcohol in an attempt to exhale flames, a risky stunt known as the viral “fire-ball” or fire-breathing challenge. The incident occurred inside an apartment building in Pittsburgh where firefighters were called after the stunt went wrong.
“It’s not a very smart thing for anybody to do, let alone children,” Pitcairn Fire Chief Tommy Dick said, warning about using rubbing alcohol as an accelerant. “It’s supposed to be for cleaning off wounds and cuts and stuff, not ingesting and trying to blow fire.”
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Wilmerding Fire Marshal Al Hussey added, “We are not meant to breathe fire as human beings. First and foremost, you can lose your life. Second, you can have life-altering injuries to your appearance. Third, you could injure others in a building where you’re in, or a room, or the home.”
Dick warned of the dangers of following social media trends. “Just because you’ve seen it on social media doesn’t mean you should do it,” he emphasized.
Commenters on a Facebook post from ABC13 about the story sounded off about the incident.
“Is this ‘challenge’ coming from the same social media site that’s been running commercials on TV about how safe they are and all the parental controls they’ve installed?” one person said. Another added, “This is why learning critical thinking skills are so important at an early age.”
This isn’t the first time social media trends have led children to make dangerous choices.
“A new safety analysis from the Omega Law Group reveals the serious consequences of dangerous social media challenges, with children as young as 10 attempting potentially deadly trends that have resulted in more than 100 deaths and tens of thousands of emergency room visits,” reported 12 On Your Side.
Online safety expert Marcy Thornhill chimed in on the growing problem: “You’re looking at Benadryl for example, taking an absorbent amount of Benadryl to see what happens. Maybe you’re jumping off of crates or, you know, flipping over a moving cars as they’re driving by. And while it looks cool and kids think it’s cool, what it’s doing is enticing them to do things that have deadly consequences.”
She added, “So you’re looking at young people doing flips and then they’re becoming quadriplegic or they’re having brain damage. Some that are breaking bones or just having a lot of internal issues from the drugs and, you know, you heard the cinnamon challenge, right? They were taking cinnamon and choking, can’t breathe, aspirating things like that. And insurance companies are not going to pay for the medical bills.”
Social media trends are never worth our health and safety. Let’s encourage our children and others to make wise choices when it comes to what we see online.
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