TikTok trend with sensory toy goes horribly wrong as US boy suffers severe burns

A nine-year-old boy in Illinois was hospitalised with severe burns after a TikTok trend inspired him to put his NeeDoh, a popular sensory toy, in the microwave.

Caleb Chabolla heard about the trend of heating the squishy toy from a friend at school and decided to try it on January 20, Loyola Medicine said in a statement.

His mother, Whitney Grubb, heard a “blood-curdling scream” as the gelatinous filling exploded on Caleb’s face and hands, according to the statement.

Grubb took her son, whose eye had swollen shut, to the local emergency room, the statement said.

He was transferred to Loyola Medicine’s Burn Center in the Chicago suburb of Maywood for further treatment and spent the night there.

“Thankfully, his vision was unimpaired by the accident,” the statement said.

“Caleb has returned home, where Whitney has been caring for his burns.”

Paula Petersen, a burn center advanced practice nurse, said it is the fourth case of NeeDoh-related burns the hospital has seen this year.

“We see the negative results of TikTok challenges all the time,” Kelly McElligott, the burn outreach coordinator at the medical center, said in the statement.

“The people who are getting hurt don’t necessarily post the TikToks.

“You’re just seeing the fun ones where it looks cool.”

Any content that promotes dangerous or harmful behavior violates TikTok’s community guidelines, a TikTok USDS Joint Venture Spokesperson said.

These videos are typically removed from the platform, and users who search for risky challenges are often redirected to the app’s Safety Center.

Schylling, the company that manufactures NeeDohs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It warns on its website the toys should not be heated, frozen or microwaved.

“It’s these toys that clearly have a label that say ‘don’t heat’, but kids aren’t going to read labels,” McElligott said in the statement, noting that 30 per cent of the burn unit’s patients are children.