A dangerous social media trend on TikTok has left a 9-year-old Illinois boy with serious injuries, prompting doctors and parents to warn others about the risks tied to viral online challenges. The incident highlights growing concerns over how trends spread rapidly among children without clear warnings.
Caleb Chabolla, a fourth-grader, suffered second-degree burns to his face and hands after heating a NeeDoh sensory toy in the microwave late last month. The toy, marketed as a soft and stretchy stress ball, exploded when he began squeezing it moments after removing it from the microwave.
“I heard him screaming loudly and saw him take off running toward the bathroom, and he just kept yelling, ‘it burns, it burns,’” his mother, Whitney Grubb, told Fox News Digital. She found the right side of his face covered in thick gel with severely reddened skin underneath.
Grubb rushed her son to the emergency room, where he was later transferred by ambulance to the Loyola Burn Center. Doctors treated him overnight and performed a procedure to clean damaged skin. “Because his eye ended up swelling all the way closed, they also brought in ophthalmology to make sure he didn’t have any injury to his eye,” Grubb said.
Medical staff told Grubb they had recently treated four other children for similar injuries linked to heated NeeDoh toys, a practice tied to a viral TikTok trend. Caleb had learned about it through classmates rather than directly online.
After two weeks of recovery and daily wound care, Caleb returned to school Wednesday. “His face is looking a lot better,” Grubb said, noting continued treatment with vitamin E lotion and sunscreen.
Grubb said the experience shows how TikTok trends have real-world consequences. “Kids are going to experiment and try things — they don’t know the risks,” she said, urging parents to stay alert and talk with children about online trends.
