15-year-old Nickolas Conrad is the latest victim to a viral prank called the 'Hot Water Challenge'.
The 'Hot Water challenge', is a dangerous phenomenon where people are encouraged to pour boiling water over an unsuspecting victim or volunteer to drink boiling water themselves.
The viral prank goes back as far as 2015, but this is the third reported instance in the space of two months.
Conrad was at a sleepover in Little Rock, Arkansas, when six of his friends when decided to do the 'Hot Water Challenge'. He woke up screaming and crying and suffered first and second degree burns.
Nickolas told THV11:
I felt this really bad burning on my neck and when I woke up and I started screaming and crying.
It was the worst pain of my life.
I just want them to leave me alone. They're not my friends anymore and they're not going to be.
Advertisement
Another incident occurred on the 7th of August, at a sleepover in The Bronx, New York. “Friends” of 11-year-old Jamoneisha Merritt poured scalding hot water on her while she was asleep, leaving her severely burned on her face, shoulders, back and chest.
Thankfully Meritt has since made a good recovery from the incident.
The prank has also claimed a life when in late July, 8-year-old Ki'ari Pope of Florida died after her cousin dared her to drink boiling water through a straw. Pope suffered a burnt mouth and throat, received a tracheotomy, and developed enduring respiratory problems. The night she died, she told her family she couldn't breathe, and fell unconscious shortly after.
Talking to THV11 Nickolas' mother, Mickey Conrad, explains her reaction to the incident and her advice for other parents.
I thought he had been in an accident and that it had been an accident but when I found out it was deliberate, it's so concerning.
'Don't ever say, ''My child won't do that,'' and educate them.'
