A 12-year-old girl from Detroit, Michigan, was hospitalized Friday with severe burns after participating in what her mother called the “fire challenge.”
Timiyah Landers (pictured above, from her Facebook page) was hanging out with two friends at her house when she became “engulfed in flames” after apparently mimicking a video she saw on YouTube, her mother, Brandi Owens, told Fox 2.
Owens heard a small explosion and witnessed her daughter “running up [a] hallway on fire from her knees to her hair.”
Owens’ quick-thinking fiancé directed Timiyah to the bathtub and sprayed her with water. The 12-year-old was then rushed to the hospital, where the family learned more than 49 percent of her body was burned.
The girl’s friends said they were participating in the “fire challenge,” an internet trend in which people seemingly douse themselves in rubbing alcohol and set themselves on fire. One of the girls said she viewed videos of people taking part in the challenge online.
The girl, who was reportedly supposed to start seventh grade in the upcoming weeks, will remain hospitalized for several months. She’ll need to have “at least three more surgeries” over the course of her long recovery, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the girl.
TIMIYAH LANDERS https://t.co/66Kygvg8Ev
— Dawn Zychowski (@DawnZychowski) August 21, 2018
Owens told Fox 2 parents need to watch their children to make sure they’re not partaking in such stunts.
“These kids are trying these YouTube challenges,” Owens told Fox 2.
“Monitor these kids, especially with these phones, and if I could after this happening, my kids would never be able to be on social media — no more iPhones, nothing.”
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Last month, a 15-year-old teen suffered second-degree burns to his face and body after his friends allegedly poured boiling hot water on him as he slept in a bid to complete the “Hot Water Challenge,” an internet challenge they also learned about on YouTube.
Fox News’ Alexandria Hein contributed to this Fox News piece, which is used by permission.
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(photo credit, homepage and article images: Timiyah Landers, Facebook)
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