NeeDoh toy explosion causes life-threatening injuries
A seven-year-old girl from Festus, Missouri, suffered severe third-degree burns and was placed in a coma after doing a TikTok challenge with a NeeDoh cube—a popular squishy toy—exploded in her face.
TikTok challenge leads to horrific accident
According to the New York Post, Scarlett Selby had watched a TikTok video showing people freezing and microwaving the toy to make it more flexible. When she tried to replicate the process, the toy exploded as she removed it from the microwave, covering her face and chest in scorching material.
Her father, Josh Selby, 44, was alerted by her blood-curdling scream and rushed to help. He desperately tried to remove the sticky, searing substance from her skin and clothes before rushing her to the hospital. Doctors induced a coma out of concern that the burns around her mouth could swell and block her airways.
“It all happened so quickly. I heard her scream, and it was like a blood-curdling scream,” Josh Selby recalled.
“She froze the NeeDoh cube the night before. The next day, she showed me it was rock solid and played with it. Then she put it in the microwave. I was watching her when she touched it to check if it was too hot after pulling it out,” he added.
Scarlett’s long road to recovery
Five months after the October 1 incident, Scarlett remains anxious about her recovery and is waiting to find out if she will need skin grafts for her second and third-degree burns.
Her mother, Amanda Blakenship, revealed that Scarlett got the idea from online videos and wanted to try it herself.
“After consulting with doctors, we’ve decided to wait a few years—maybe until she’s around 12—to see how her body grows. If the scar stretches and grows with her, we might avoid surgery. For now, we apply creams and silicone ointments daily. The scars are so severe they stick up off her skin,” said Ms. Blakenship, a hairdresser.
She also shared that Scarlett has become self-conscious about her scars.
“She tries to cover them with her shirt in public or comes home upset when other kids ask about them. I remind her she has nothing to be embarrassed about. She went through a terrible accident, and she’s strong,” she added.
Father warns against NeeDoh toy dangers
Following the traumatic incident, Josh Selby is urging parents to discard NeeDoh products. He warned that the substance inside the toy is similar to hot glue, which can cause severe burns upon explosion.
“Once it touches the skin, it’s extremely difficult to remove. This toy shouldn’t be sold or marketed in its current form,” he said, calling for better safety regulations.