A 13-year-old girl from Portland, Oregon sustained severe burns to her neck and body while attempting to replicate a viral TikTok trend involving setting a bathroom mirror on fire.
Since the accident occurred two weeks ago, Destini Crane has undergone three skin grafting surgeries. She remains in the hospital recovering from her injuries.
The child's mother, Kimberly Crane, told ABC News her daughter apparently tried to recreate a TikTok trend in which people use alcohol to write a message on the mirror, which is then set ablaze.
Destini brought a lighter, a candle and a bottle of rubbing alcohol into the bathroom one day without her mother knowing.
Moments later, Crane heard an explosion.
"I was in the living room talking with my mom, and I heard her scream my name."
"So I went and opened the bathroom door and everything was on fire. Destini was on fire. Things in the bathroom were on fire."
Crane also told KATU how hard she'd tried to prevent something like this.
"I have parental controls on all her stuff, and it still wasn't enough."
The child's sister, Andrea Crane, saw in hindsight how something like this could have happened.
"They're not TikTok trends that everyone knows about. They're under the radar, dangerous things like lighting something on fire in the bathroom."
"She's really into special effects. So she really likes things that look like they're underwater or things with fire in them. It looks cool."
You can see local news coverage here:
Kimberly Crane told ABC News her daughter has a long road to recovery.
"Because of the burns she's going to have limited mobility. That is just going to be a lifelong thing, of her doing physical therapy to keep her mobility."
"I know that when she wakes up and fully understands, she's probably going to freak out."
"But honestly I think that she's strong enough to get through it."
Destini is expected to remain in the hospital for at least two more months.
People were sympathetic online.
Teryl Hoffmann/TikTok
Andrea Schmidt/TikTok
Alicia Perez Garcia/TikTok
Louise Irene Gray/TikTok
In further comments to ABC News, Crane reminded people app-based parental controls can only go so far in preventing tragedies.
"I just wasn't present with her. When she showed me TikToks and when she showed me what she was doing, I would be like, 'Oh I'm busy,' or, 'I'm doing schoolwork'."
"It's really important to be present with your children, because we can monitor them, we have parental controls, we can do all that all we want, but things slip through."
"And so it's really important to be present with your children and have that transparency of, 'Hey what are you into what? What are you doing right now?'"
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