Football player, 16, is left ‘unrecognizable’ with horrific burns after attempting TikTok challenge
Dangerous TikTok challenge leaves star soccer player, 16, disfigured and ‘beyond recognition’ with horrific burns after using lighter and spray can to make homemade BLOWTORCH that exploded
- Mason Dark, 16, suffered third-degree burns after attempting a TikTok trend
- The football star almost died in the stunt that comes with a warning
- He will stay in hospital for at least six months and undergo several surgeries
A North Carolina teen was left “unrecognizable” after suffering third-degree burns on 80 percent of his body while attempting to complete a TikTok challenge that requires a spray can and lighter.
Football star Mason Dark, 16, tried the trend last Sunday when he nearly lost his life.
The highly dangerous TikTok challenge involves using a lighter and igniting the contents of an aerosol can.
Mason’s family recalled hearing a “thump” at their Wake Forest home just before they saw the teen run out and jump into the lake with 75 percent of his body burned.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he remains at the UNC Burn Center. The teen’s mother, Holli Dark, told the story WRAL “he’s unrecognizable.”
Mason Dark, 16, suffered third-degree burns after attempting a TikTok trend. In the photo: bricklayer
Mason was seen in a recent photo sleeping on the hospital bed while wrapped in white bandages. The extent of his injuries was unknown until Thursday, when he underwent “the first of many surgeries.”
Mason was seen in a recent photo sleeping on the hospital bed while wrapped in white bandages. The extent of his injuries was unknown until Thursday, when he underwent “the first of many surgeries.”
‘[We] I now find out after the surgery that he has third degree burns… it’s like a T in his back and it was because he took his shirt off and then it got stuck or something,” Holli said.
“We only found out yesterday that it was actually 76 percent of his body.”
Holli described her son as outgoing and is in disbelief that she doesn’t recognize him.
“What he looked like when those kids saw him when he first came in, what he looks like now is 100 times different,” she told the news outlet.
Mason is expected to recover at the burn center for about six months as the extent of his condition remains completely unknown. According to Holli, her son’s condition is about to improve.
“He jumped into a river to put out the flames. The risk of infection from the river water is high, on top of having 2nd and 3rd degree burns,” she wrote on GoFundMe.
As of Friday night, more than $17,000 had been raised to help with the teen’s medical bills and other necessities.
Mason is one of many teens who have attempted the risky TikTok challenge.
Immediately after being burned, he jumped into the river to cool the burns. He will stay in hospital for at least six months and undergo several surgeries. Pictured: Mason after the incident
A photo of the teen showed him being transported to hospital after the incident
Mason’s mother, Holli Dark (center right), described her son as outgoing and is in disbelief that she doesn’t recognize him
Several videos posted on the social media platform showed the challenge in action.
The most common way to do the quest is to apply spray paint to paper and light a flame on top. The flame remains intact as long as the lighter burns.
A daring TikToker decided to take it a step further and took an aerosol can to a fire pit, sparking a massive fire.