A dangerous challenge on TikTok landed a North Carolina teen in the hospital with serious burns over nearly 80 percent of his disfigured body.
Grisly photos of Mason Dark have gone viral after the 16-year-old was dared by a group of TikTokers to make a torch out of a spray paint can and a lighter.
The TT users often meet online to create mini-flamethrowers, but this time their makeshift project went awry as Dark was engulfed in flames after the can exploded.
Dark ran to a river nearby in Wake Forest and dove inside to put out the flames. When he emerged from the water, he had third-degree burns over 76 percent of his body, including his face.
His mom, Holli, told local affiliate WRAL News, “He is unrecognizable, unrecognizable.” She also said her son was rushed to a burn center, where he has already undergone surgeries to receive skin grafts. He’s expected to stay in the hospital for at least 6 months.
Holli went on to say the letter “T” was seared into his back as he was taking off his flaming shirt at the river bed.
She added, “The way he looked when those kids saw him when he first came in, to what he looks like now, it’s 100 times different.”
Dark is an active high school football player and track runner.
