Loyola warns of TikTok trend that left Plainfield boy, 9, hospitalized with burns

Loyola Medicine is warning of a TikTok trend that left a 9-year-old southwest suburban Plainfield boy hospitalized with burns, the fourth injury from the trend so far this year.

Whitney Grubb was getting her two sons ready for school on Jan. 20 when 9-year-old Caleb started the microwave. Grubb assumed Caleb was warming up her breakfast, when she heard what she described as a "blood-curdling scream."

Caleb had microwaved a Needoh cube, a popular sensory toy used by adults and kids. As Caleb opened the microwave, the cube, filled with gelatinous material, exploded on his face and hands, according to a Loyola Medicine statement.

“When I asked him what happened, he told me that a friend at school told him about putting it in the microwave,” Grubb said in the statement. “It wasn’t anything malicious, it was just kids sharing stories, and unfortunately, he decided to try it."

Whitney tried to rinse the material off in the shower, but the material was so thick and Caleb was in so much pain that they went to the emergency room before being transferred to Loyola's Burn Center.

“Unfortunately, Caleb’s is the fourth case we have seen this year with Needoh cubes,” said Paula Petersen, a burn center advanced practice nurse, in the statement. “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.”

According to TikTok spokesperson Nick Smith, TikTok's Community Guidelines prohibit content that shows or promotes dangerous activities or challenges.

"We remove these videos when we find them and in Q3 of last year, we removed 99.8% of them proactively (before any reports were filed) and more than 97% within 24 hours," Smith said in an emailed statement.

Loyola shared Caleb's story as part of National Burn Awareness Week.