Boiling Water Challenge Sends People to Hospital

Some people will do anything they see on social media, including the latest dangerous fad, the Boiling Water Challenge. (Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.)

The challenge can only take place during extreme cold such as the recent polar vortex.  It involves filling a container with boiling water and then chucking it in the air and watching the water freeze instantly in below-zero weather. Numerous videos of people taking the challenge are on the Web.

What could go wrong?

Lots.

At least eight people were hospitalized recently in Chicago after trying the challenge. Turns out the water didn’t freeze instantly.

"There's no safe way to do it," Loyola burn surgeon Dr. Arthur Samford told the Chicago Sun Times.

One posted video demonstrated the danger of the challenge when a man wearing just shorts threw a pot of water over his head--and some of the boiling liquid didn't freeze and hit the back of his legs.    

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