HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A new viral challenge is leaving teens and children around the country with horrific burns.
It’s the result of the so-called “Hot Water Challenge.” It’s killed a child in Florida and severely burned one Indiana teen.
The latest victim? A child in Henrico County, who was left hospitalized for days.
“I got burned on my stomach, my left leg, my right leg and my arm, my finger,” Ashton Taylor told 8News.
The 10-year-old spent eight painful days in the hospital and said he had never heard of the hot water challenge until he ended up on the losing end of the viral trend.
“I was scared at that moment,” Taylor recalled. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Away at a sleepover, Taylor woke up screaming after he says a 9-year-old boy poured boiling water on his chest and legs. He was hospitalized with second-degree burns.
“I was screaming and they put me in another bed and I tried to calm down but I couldn’t because the pain was just on fire,” Taylor explained.
Ashton’s mom remembers arriving at the hospital and hearing her son’s anguished cries in the hallway.
“I mean, just blisters everywhere,” she said. “It’s horrifying.”
Ashton and his mom hope sharing their nightmare will prevent another family from the same pain.
“I just don’t want kids to do it, Their mom to know to teach them a lesson, show them a video or this so they will know not to do it. Because it’s really painful,” Ashton said.
Ashton’s mom said she doesn’t feel any hatred towards the child who hurt her son, but she does think he should have known better. Doctors say it could take a year for Ashton to recover.
Meanwhile, friends have started a GoFundMe to help cover his medical expenses.