Caden Ballard was hospitalized in Dallas on Aug. 16 after suffering serious second-to-third-degree burns across parts of his body.

A 12-year-old boy in Texas is recovering after experiencing second-to-third-degree burns across his body while attempting to recreate an experiment he saw on social media, according to reports.

On Aug. 16, Caden Ballard was at home in Coleman, Texas, with his older brother when he was inspired by a TikTok video to recreate an experiment involving a bottle filled with rubbing alcohol that was set alight to watch the flames rise, local news outlets KXAN Austin, KRBC-TV, and CBS 42 reported.

The pair initially thought the experiment looked “cool,” but the situation quickly changed, as isopropyl alcohol can produce an almost invisible flame once ignited.

“It looked like the fire had gone out,” Caden said. “So, my brother said, ‘Here, throw it away.’ I picked it up to throw it in the trash can, and then I realized my shirt had caught fire.”

Caden’s mom, Christina, was on the other side of the property when the incident happened. She learned something was wrong after a friend heard her sons calling 911.

“When I got to the porch, his face, chest, arms and stomach had serious burn injuries. It looked like his skin had been severely damaged,” Christina recalled, adding that it came as a shock because her sons usually watched “story time” videos on the app.

She is now encouraging other parents to remind their children not to copy everything they see online because they “never know” if it could lead to a serious accident.

The impact of Caden’s injuries was reduced thanks to his older brother, who quickly pulled off his shirt and told him to stop, drop and roll to put out the flames.

“I don’t know how you found the courage to reach into the flames and pull the shirt off your brother,” Christina told CBS 42. “But I thank God every single day that you did.”

“We were incredibly fortunate. It was still very serious, but Caden and I are thankful it wasn’t even worse,” Christina added, according to KXAN Austin.

A fundraiser created to help cover Caden’s medical expenses has raised more than $1,500 toward its $25,000 goal.

In an update on the GoFundMe page, Christina shared that after undergoing surgery, Caden was transferred to Shriners Pediatric Burn Hospital in Galveston. He has since been discharged and is continuing treatment as an outpatient.

“They believe he may have some scarring, but the team at Shriners Hospital plans to fit him with compression garments, including gloves and shirts, to help reduce thick scars,” Christina wrote.

“They also want to continue monitoring him as he grows because scar tissue doesn’t stretch and develop the same way as normal skin. Since he’s still so young, he has a lot of growing ahead of him,” she added, noting that he may require reconstructive surgery in the future.

“Please continue keeping Caden in your thoughts as this will be a long recovery journey,” Christina concluded on the page.

According to the fundraiser, Caden experienced serious burns across approximately 11 percent of his body during the incident.

Source: People