‘TikTok fire challenge’ video lands teenage girl in intensive care with severe burns

The teen girl has undergone a tracheotomy and skin grafts as part of her treatment

A 13-year-old girl landed in the intensive care unit (ICU) with third-degree burns after attempting to recreate a viral TikTok challenge that involves setting fire to symbols drawn on a mirror using flammable liquid.

The family of Destini Crane from Portland, Oregon, said the teenager was filming a video in the bathroom when they heard her screams and saw “everything was on fire.”

“Destini was on fire. When I went and opened the bathroom door everything was on fire,” Kimberly Crane, the mother of Destini told ABC news.

The seventh grader was trying to recreate a TikTok video challenge in which shapes are drawn on a mirror using flammable liquid and set on fire to create a fire lit symbol or alphabet, according to her mother.

The incident happened on 13 May and since then Destini is in the hospital with a severely burned neck and right arm, unable to speak to say what exactly happened.

The family came to the conclusion after they found a candle, lighter, and bottle of rubbing alcohol in the poorly ventilated bathroom and after talking to her friends.

"I was in the living room talking with my mom, and I heard her scream my name," Ms Kimberly said. “Things in the bathroom were on fire."

She brought Destini outside and removed her burning shirt while neighbours called 911. Her phone was still recording the video after the explosion when they found it.

Her sister Andrea Crane said “because of the burns she's going to have limited mobility.” She will have to do physical therapy to keep her mobility.

Portland Fire and Rescue who responded to the emergency are investigating the matter. Firefighter Rob Garrison said social media challenges are risky.

"This is maybe one of the most dangerous things I've ever seen anybody do in my life," he said, adding that skin catches fire within seconds.

"You could be standing next to a lake if you want and light yourself on fire, and by the time you hit the water, you're probably going to have burns on your body," Mr Garrison said.

This is not the first time a social media challenge went awry and led to a life-threatening situation. Last year a skull-breaker challenge went viral in which two people kick the legs of the third one from under to make the third person fall over. The challenge led to aggravated injuries in several young people.

Similarly, another social media challenge, known as “blue whale challenge,” was dubbed as a “suicide game” after several teenagers took their lives. It used to set 50 tasks over 50 days starting with daring tasks and ending up in the final task of demanding the user to kill themselves.

The Portland family is now warning other parents to watch what their kids are doing on social media and encouraging them to spend more time with them.