Skip to main content
Cloudy icon
25º

Dearborn Heights boy's friend lights him on fire for social media challenge

12-year-old suffers 2nd-degree burns

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – A Dearborn Heights boy suffered second-degree burns when his friend lit him on fire for a social media challenge.

Tabitha Cleary said her 12-year-old son, Jason, was at a friend's house Saturday when she heard screaming.

"So we came running out. That's when we saw his friend Bryce riding him on the bike with no shirt on," Tabitha Cleary said. "I start to freak out. 'Take him to the hospital, take him to the hospital.' I'm crying. He's crying."

Jason Clearywas burned on his chin, chest and stomach after he was sprayed with nail polish remover and lit on fire as part of a social media challenge where children set each other on fire.

"(The) first time, it (the fire) was little, and they swatted it off. Second time, they kept spraying it (nail polish remover) on me," Jason Cleary said.

The "fire challenge" isn't new. Last October, a Detroit girl was hospitalized after her friends started her on fire.


About the Authors
Shawn Ley headshot

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Loading...