A mother in Oklahoma City is warning other parents to pay attention to what their children are doing with their toys after her 11-year-old son was badly burned. The boy, Colton Preston, was hurt while trying a trend he had seen online involving a popular stress toy. What began as a child copying a video ended with an overnight stay in the hospital and weeks of painful treatment.
According to the account given, videos online show people putting the needles of the stress toy inside a microwave to make them softer. Colton decided to try it for himself. He says the toy was only in the microwave for about ten seconds before it exploded. The sudden burst left him covered in hot gel that he could not get off.
The boy said the material would not come off and was still burning, so he tried to tear it away, but it would not budge. His mother had just told him his sandwiches were ready on the counter, and barely a minute later she heard him scream. When she went to him and saw how serious it was, she described the moment as terrifying.
Colton was rushed to the hospital, where he stayed overnight. Weeks later, he is still going through wound care. His mother said the wounds have had to be scrubbed a couple of times, and that he was placed under anesthesia twice for the procedures, which she said was very hard on him. The recovery has stretched on well beyond the night of the injury.
When his mother looked at the toy's packaging afterward, she said she noticed a warning label that was easy to miss, with a large barcode placed over it. Doctors warned that the toy should never be heated, explaining that the material inside heats up very fast and can blow up or explode in the microwave. They said that once it is taken out it can burn a person's hands or explode into their face, and that the toy should only ever be used, if necessary, with soap and water.
Colton's mother said she hopes other parents will talk with their children before they try viral trends they see online, warning that it could happen to any child. The toy's manufacturer, Schilling, said it has worked with TikTok to remove videos showing misuse of the product, and that it has added safety warnings to the packaging and to its online listings.