Mum's horror as son sets himself alight as she tries to stop fire with her hands
A horrified mum says her teenage son set himself on fire while trying a viral social media stunt - leaving her trying to stop the flames with her bare hands.
Dzhyan Crutcher, a 13-year-old boy, suffered severe third-degree burns covering 45 percent of his upper body while imitating a dangerous trick he had seen on social media.
When Tiffany, Dzhyan's 34-year-old mother, had placed candles around their house in preparation for a potential power outage caused by windy weather, Dzhyan attempted the stunt.
He took one of the candles into his bathroom, lit it, and proceeded to pour alcohol on it, leading to a sudden explosion.
Tiffany recalls the horrifying scene in March as her son rushed out of the bathroom, engulfed in flames.
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Desperate to put out the fire, she bravely used her bare hands until her younger son, Zaelyn, aged 12, provided her with a fire extinguisher.
Dzhyan Crutcher was left with 45 per cent third degree burns from the waist up (Kennedy News & Media)
He was trying to copy a trick his mum says he'd seen on social media (Kennedy News & Media)The seriousness of the situation prompted an immediate airlift of the young boy to the hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Mum-of-three Tiffany says that a fire marshal showed her a video of another child who had been injured doing the same stunt and was 'surprised' that Dzhyan had tried it as she'd warned her children not to try things they'd seen other people do online.
Tiffany, from Athens, Alabama, US, said: "He went into the bathroom and he took a candle and poured alcohol onto it. It exploded onto him catching him on fire.
"I was there immediately. I heard the explosion.
"He came out of the bathroom and I tried to put him out with my hands at first. We were taught to stop, drop and roll so I tried that and it didn't work.
"Zaelyn grabbed the extinguisher so I put him out then put the bathroom out. It was scary. He was completely on fire from the waist up. It was terrifying."
The 13-year-old took one candle into his bathroom before lighting it and dousing it in alcohol (Kennedy News & Media)
Dzhyan Crutcher will need two years until he has fully recovered (Kennedy News & Media)When the fire was out, Dzhyan was in shock, as were the rest of the family.
"I couldn't see him until he made it to hospital and I could only see his face," said Tiffany.
"They took him straight to surgery and had him wrapped up. His face looked really bad to me, his face was so swollen. It was awful. I was in shock."
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Dzhyan was burnt 45 per cent from the waist up with third and second-degree burns.
Investigators believe he was trying an online trend of pouring alcohol onto a candle.
Mum Tiffany had set out candles around the house (Kennedy News & Media)The alcohol had been in the bathroom cupboard for when needed to pour on injuries.
Dzhyan spent one month in a hospital and has had four skin grafts but isn't expected to be fully recovered for another two years.
He's also having therapy to help him learn to use his arms and hands again as they suffered the most severe burns.
Stay-at-home mum Tiffany is sharing her son's story in the hopes of raising awareness so that another child doesn't make Dzhyans's mistake.
Tiffany said: "He said that he was just experimenting, he didn't know that it would explode. He's into science, he didn't know it would do that. He just wanted to see what it would do.
"I didn't really bust at him because kids make mistakes and he is beating himself up about it.
"He is traumatised, he gets in moods and says he doesn't know why he did it, he shouldn't have done it and he didn't know what he was thinking.
"The pain from it and going through the therapy upsets him because he knows he has a long road to recovery.
"I'm an overprotective parent, I talk to them and tell them not to try stuff just because they've seen someone else do it. Parents need to talk to their kids about the dangers of doing what they see other people doing.
"He's still healing on his face, stomach and chest. His arms are in the process of healing, the skin grafts took well and he has to go to the burn clinic every other week and they said he's healing up good.
"He has about a year before it's completely healed then another year after to be completely done with everything. He has therapy because of the severity of the burns on his arms to learn to use his arms and hands again."
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