WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Caleb Chabolla, 9, was left with second-degree burns after a friend showed him a TikTok video about making a popular toy more flexible by placing it inside a microwave
A 9-year-old boy was left with severe burns and nearly blinded after being inspired by a social media clip to microwave one of his toys.
Caleb Chabolla placed his NeeDoh Nice Cube sensory toy into a microwave after a pal told him it would make the rubber toy more flexible. His mum recalled the horror moment she heard her young son’s blood-curdling cry coming from the kitchen.
The schoolboy cried: “It burns, it burns.” The outside layer of the toy is made from non-toxic silicone but its inside contained a glue-like substance that expands and bursts when exposed to significant heat.
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Caleb’s mum Whitney Grubb told ABC7 the substance flew all over his face when he opened the microwave at their home in Chicago, Illinois. Speaking to CBS News, she said: “I heard him scream and I saw him take off running towards one of our bathrooms and that stuff had popped on his face.”
The mum then rushed Caleb to the emergency room after he suffered second-degree burns on one side of his face and his hands. She added: “By the time, you know, we were settled in at Loyola, his eye was completely swollen shut, so I was immediately worried about his eye.”
At a nearby hospital, staff washed the burns and cut away dead skin before applying ointment. An ophthalmic check on his eye found his vision was unimpaired by the incident.
Doctors said Caleb was not the only child to have fallen victim to the trend. Kelly McElligott of the Loyola Medicine burn centre said: “A child who heated it up in the microwave, then put her finger on it and her finger went through, and it burned her finger.” She said Caleb went on to spend two days in the hospital and did not need to have skin grafts but that he might develop scars.
Caleb’s mum and Ms McElligott have now urged families to be cautious. McElligott added: “Do not heat these up in any way, shape, or form. Whether it’s the microwave, hot water, those things can really be dangerous.”
There are warning labels on the NeeDoh Nice Cube that state the toy should not be heated up. Caleb will undergo a follow-up appointment at the burn clinic and is slated to return to school in the coming week.
