COLEMAN, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Twelve-year-old Caden Ballard and his older brother were at home in Coleman, Texas, when they stumbled upon a TikTok video they were eager to try out.
Ballard said he and his brother grabbed the materials and thought the experiment went well, until it did not.
“The video showed us how to put some rubbing alcohol in a bottle, light it, and watch the fire shoot up. My brother and I tried it, and it seemed pretty cool,” Ballard said.
“The fire appeared to be out, so my brother suggested throwing it away. When I picked it up to toss it in the trash, suddenly my shirt was engulfed in flames.”
Isopropyl alcohol, when ignited, can have an invisible flame, which is what caused second-to-third-degree burns across his body.
Caden’s mother, Christina, was elsewhere on the property when she learned about the incident from a nearby friend who heard the boys’ 911 call.
“When I got to the porch, his face, chest, arms, and stomach were all burned; his skin looked like it had melted,” Christina recounted. “They enjoy listening to story times on TikTok, so this outcome was the last thing I expected.”
Thanks to Caden’s older brother’s swift response, the damage was reduced. He quickly removed Caden’s shirt and encouraged him to stop, drop, and roll to extinguish the flames.
“I don’t know how you were brave enough to reach into the flames and pull the shirt off of your brother. But I thank God every single day that you were brave enough to do that,” Christina said.
Now, the mom is urging other parents to have the tough conversation with their children about mimicking what they see online.
“Just tell your kids because you never know when something they see online could end up putting them in the hospital or worse. We got very lucky; unfortunately, it’s bad, but Caden and I are very lucky that it wasn’t a lot worse,” Christina said.
Caden is being transferred to a children’s burn unit in Galveston. The family has set up a fundraiser.
