A TikTok challenge gone wrong left a 16-year-old severely disfigured, with burns covering almost 80% of his body.
The challenge in question offers users of the platform to use flammable aerosols to create miniature flamethrowers.
Mason Dark and his friends were busy creating one of these devices when the aerosols exploded, setting the teenagers ablaze.
“He is unrecognizable. He is unrecognizable,” his mother, Holli Dark, who lives in North Carolina, told WRAL.
After the explosion, Mason jumped into a nearby river to relieve his burns, but the flames had taken their toll.
His skin was charred.
“They all heard a big boom. Then Mason ran out and started taking his shirt off,” Ms. Dark said.
Young Mason’s reflexes didn’t help him, according to the New York Post.
By taking off his shirt, he suffered a serious third-degree burn on his back, while jumping into the river exposed him to infections.
Mason was rushed to hospital with burns covering 76% of his body, his mother said.
The teenager, who is a very active football player and runner, is expected to spend the next six months in a burns centre.
A Gofundme page has been created to help the family.