An eight-year-old Florida girl died recently, four months after being injured while drinking boiling water through a straw on a dare. The girl and her cousins watched several YouTube videos about the Hot Water Challenge, where someone appeared to drink boiling water from a straw. The child had suffered complications ever since the March injury.
Dr. Steve Lauer is a pediatrician at The University of Kansas Health System. In the video, he explains why children in this age group are susceptible to these kinds of challenges. He describes what happens when a person drinks boiling water, and the damage it can do to the throat. He says immediate emergency care is vital. He also talks about what parents can and should be doing to prevent their children from acting on dares like this.
