CHICAGO (WGN) — A mother is raising awareness after her son was severely burned because of a TikTok trend.
Loyola Hospital’s Burn Center has seen several injuries because of this latest social media trend, taking a popular toy and using it in a way it’s not supposed to be.
The NeeDoh Nice Cube is a gel-filled sensory toy meant to be squeezed, not heated. The trend is to use a microwave to heat up the toy and make it more pliable.
Caleb Chabolla, 9, did exactly that two weeks ago. After microwaving the Nice Cube, it burst in his face — causing severe burns.
Caleb’s mom brought him to a hospital near Plainfield, but then he was transferred to Loyola’s Burn Center.
Doctors say he was very fortunate. Even though his face was very swollen, he had no permanent damage to his eye and he is healing up on his own.
“Whether it’s these toys that clearly have a label that say ‘don’t heat,’ but kids aren’t going to read labels. Or it’s ramen noodles coming out of the microwave that kids spill on themselves, or little kids pulling hot coffee off the counter. These are injuries we see every year at the burn center. Thirty percent of our patients are pediatric patients. I think it’s every day common things in the home that are burning these kids and we want to make sure that parents should be diligent about what’s in their house,” said Kelly McElligott, burn outreach coordinator at Loyola Medical Center Burn Center.
It’s important to note that Caleb did not see this trend for himself on TikTok, he heard about it through friends who saw it online.
NewsNation affiliate WGN has reached out to Schylling, the company that makes NeeDoh, for a statement but have not yet heard back.
As always, you should follow the manufacturers instructions and any warnings they might have.
