Amid the allure of social media, trends have swept through the fire, including a seemingly innocuous culinary frenzy: microwave gourds.
The striking trend, which has millions of hits on the internet, is a quick and easy way to remake the preserved fruit, a traditional Chinese snack that coats the fruit in rock sugar, according to foreign media on April 23.
This viral dessert recipe showcases a simplified way to make sugar gourds in the microwave, appealing to a younger generation eager to try their culinary experiments. However, there is a dangerous reality hidden behind these captivating videos. Due to the lack of adequate parental supervision and awareness of potential dangers, children are risking serious injuries as they pursue this trend.
There have been reports of microwave oven containers exploding, hot sugar spilled on hands and feet, and plastic bowls melting at high temperatures. These events resulted in severe burns that required medical intervention, and some victims had to endure the painful process of skin grafts and a long recovery period.
In Melbourne, for example, 12-year-old Violet Higgins tried to get in on the bandwagon, only to have a traumatic experience. Her harrowing journey to recovery, marked by frequent hospital visits and ongoing physical and emotional torture, underscores the urgency of addressing this issue.
"Everybody didn't put their injuries in the video, they just said how fun it was, so I wanted to give it a try," Higgins said. ”
But things didn't go as planned, and the boiling sugar melted the plastic bowl and landed directly on her feet.
Higgins' mother had to rip the toffee off her daughter's skin, ripping off the flesh in the process.
Higgins recalls, "Even after my mom ripped it off, it was still giving off heat. It's sizzling and I can even hear it on my skin. ”
Four weeks later, Higgins is still recovering. She walks on crutches and often goes to the Royal Children's Hospital to remove dead skin from her feet.
Beneath the surface of viral fame, lies a harsh reality: the dangers of microwave sugar gourds are far from insignificant. With every attempt to replicate this trend, children unwittingly put themselves at risk of their lives being compromised. As Dr Monique Bertinetti of the Royal Children's Hospital warns, seemingly innocuous social media challenges can soon escalate into a medical emergency.
Monique Bertinetti, a surgeon at the Royal Children's Hospital, told The Herald Sun: "A lot of these toffee incidents are related to plastic cups in the microwave, where the toffee burns straight through the cups and drips onto the hands, abdomen or feet. ”
Monique Bertinetti also said that a third of patients require skin grafts, and some have to wait years for a full recovery.
"We've really seen a surge in cases of toffee burns, especially among young teens who are trying out various trends on social media. They feel like it's a safe thing to do, but often these things that we see on social media aren't particularly safe and can lead to serious harm. ”
Currently, reported cases of hot sugar burns in Australia and New Zealand have alarmed parents and carers. The temptation of social media trends must be combined with more vigilant and proactive measures to protect children from harm.
It is understood that sugar gourd burns, due to their unique challenges and complexities, require timely and appropriate first aid measures. The importance of immediate cooling with cold running water cannot be overlooked, and then the wound is carefully bandaged to prevent further damage.
Additionally, it is crucial to seek medical help to ensure that the injury is properly assessed and treated.