What is the Hot Water Challenge? It’s a challenge started online, with videos that showing people pouring boiling water on an unsuspecting friend.
This week, 11-year old Jamoneisha Merritt, is recovering in a Harlem hospital with sever burns to her face, chest, back and shoulders after attending a slumber party where her 12-year old friend poured boiling hot water on her face as she slept.
Doctors have not let Jamoneisha look at her injuries yet because they are too severe.
Last month 8-year old Ki’ari Pope died in a variation of the stunt, when she was dared to drink boiling water from a straw. A GoFund me page has been set up to assist the family with funeral arrangements.
Also in July, 10-year old Wesley Smith was a victim of the online trend when he and his step-brother attempted to emulate it. His injuries required him to undergo several surgeries, including skin grafts to repair the damage.
Parents should be aware that the Hot Water Challenge is a thing.
Searching for “Hot Water Challenge” on YouTube turns up thousands of videos.
“Watch what your kids are doing on the Internet,” Smith’s step-father Jimmy Daugherty, told a CBS affiliate in an interview. “When we got to the hospital and I actually seen it, I thought the poor boy had been through a war.”
