Children are setting themselves on fire in order to get likes on social media and become ‘social media stars’, according to hospital bosses.

The latest internet craze, ‘The Fire Challenge’, asks young people to set themselves alight in order to boost their popularity on social media and get more ‘likes’.

But many have been hospitalised with serious burns, including requiring surgery and life-support treatment, as a result of the dangerous online game.

Timiyah Landers, 12, received serious burns over 50 percent of her body after attempting the so-called ‘fire challenge’ with two friends in Detroit (Picture: Facebook)

A rise in the number of wannabe ‘social media stars’ admitted to hospital with serious burns has been confirmed by staff at a specialist burns unit at Swansea’s Morriston Hospital.




Although Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board has not disclosed the specific number of patients they have treated, it has issued a warning to anyone taking part in these online dares.

The challenge originated in the US and started in 2012 after YouTuber 1BlazinEagle1 uploaded a video of him lighting his chest hair on fire, with the video racking up over 100,000 views by 2014, inspiring others to try it.

In August, 12-year-old Timiyah Landers from Detroit burned 49 per cent of her body in the dangerous trend.

Timiyah Landers, 12, received serious burns over 50 percent of her body after attempting the so-called ‘fire challenge’ (Picture: Facebook)

She was with two friends at her home in Michigan, after her mother Brandi had made them pancakes.

Only minutes after she left the girls on their own, she heard the noise of a ‘loud bang’ and Timiyah was engulfed in flames.

Her stepfather splashed water on her body whilst her mother tore off her burning clothes.

Timiyah was taken to hospital and subsequently put on a ventilator in intensive care.

Jeremy Yarrow, a plastic surgeon at Morriston hospital said: ‘I can understand there is pressure on young people to gain acceptance or boost their online profiles by doing such risky things as these challenges.

‘But from the patients I see, the results can be very different, with some requiring life support treatment and many left with lifelong scars.

‘In some severe and sometimes life-threatening cases, they are admitted to hospital for long periods of time for complex surgery resulting in long term mental and physical issues.’