Teen hospitalized after attempting Squid Game stunt
By Dan Selcke
Squid Game, the Netflix show that’s taken over streaming in the past month, is about a dystopian society where down-on-their-luck people compete in children’s games for a chance to clear their debts. The catch? If they lose at any of the games, they die.
It’s a pretty violent idea, and it has taken the world be absolute storm. That does come with risk, though. For instance, some teens have taken to acting out some of the challenges from the show on social media services like Tik Tok, and it can end badly.
Take the case of one Australian 14-year-old who tried the “honeycomb challenge,” where players must carve a shape into a thin sheet of honeycomb before the mixture sets. According to the Daily Mail, the boy mixed together sugar, water and baking soda as part of his honeycomb recipe. But he heated it up in a cup that wasn’t microwave-safe. When he tried to remove the cup, it exploded, resulting in first-degree burns to his hand and third-degree burns to his legs.
“It was like toffee and burnt right through to the nerves,” said the boy’s mother. He will have to spend a year wearing a pressure bandage on his leg.
Multiple people are getting injured after watching Squid Game
Clearly this is a tragic accident, but what surprise you is that it’s not the only one. Three children have been admitted to Westmead Children’s Hospital in New South Wales over the course of the month after attempting the same challenge. Dr. Erik La Hei, the acting head of the hospital’s burn until, says he’s heard of other cases in Australia.
“The honeycomb toffee mix is both hotter and stickier,” said Dr. La Hei. “If the mixture is spilt or handled while it’s still hot, the greater heat and longer contact times causes deeper, more serious burns.”
Maybe stick to red light, green light?
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h/t SyFy Wire