Whitney Grubb was getting her car ready for the day so she could take her two children to work when she heard someone using the microwave. She assumed it was her 9-year-old son, Caleb Chabolla, heating up his breakfast.
However, just seconds later, she heard a ‘bloodcurdling scream’ from the kitchen. She rushed to find that her son had microwaved his toy, a popular sensory device called the Needoh Nice Cube, which helps to prevent fidgeting and reduce anxiety in users.
After he microwaved the gel-filled item and opened the microwave door, the gel-filled item exploded, sending scalding material all over the young boy’s hands and face. He later revealed that he did not remember what had happened, and he had merely heard about it from a friend. It is also a trend on TikTok.
The trend resulted in Caleb being hospitalized. The trend involves heating up toys to make them more pliable. Usually, microwaves can heat plastic to 200°F in a few seconds, which can be incredibly dangerous, especially since most toys are not meant to be microwaved.
Young Caleb, who does not use social media had not seen the trend firsthand but had only heard about it from a friend.
His mom shared “It wasn’t anything malicious; it was just kids sharing stories, and unfortunately, he decided to try it.”
When Caleb’s mother discovered her son with the burning material on him, she immediately rushed him to the shower to remove it. She then rushed him to the emergency room to have it removed. Due to the severity of the injuries he had sustained, he was transferred to Loyola Medicine’s Burn Center.
Caleb stayed at the hospital overnight for his treatment by a burns specialist and an opthalmologist as his eye had swollen shut after some of the substance landed near it.
The story is making rounds because it is the latest case the hospital received of a child with burns after microwaving a toy. Paula Petersen, a burn center advanced practice nurse, said, “Unfortunately, Caleb’s is the fourth case we have seen this year with Needoh cubes.
“Caleb is very lucky he didn’t sustain greater injuries. These trends can be extremely dangerous for young people who are less likely to consider or unable to understand the serious consequences,” Petersen added.
Thankfully, the damage to Caleb’s eye was not serious, and he has since returned to his school.
Medical professionals, however, are still warning parents and kids about the risks of participating in dangerous social media trends.
Loyola’s Outreach Coordinator, Kelly McElligot, shared, “We see the negative results of TikTok challenges all the time. The people who are getting hurt don’t necessarily post the TikToks. You’re just seeing the fun ones where it looks cool.”
She went on to add, “Whether it’s these toys that clearly have a label that say ‘don’t heat,’ but kids aren’t going to read labels. Or it’s ramen noodles coming out of the microwave that kids spill on themselves, or little kids pulling hot coffee off the counter.”
She ended by saying, “These are injuries we see every year at the burn center. Thirty percent of our patients are pediatric patients. I think it’s every day common things in the home that are burning these kids and we want to make sure that parents should be diligent about what’s in their house.”