A 10-year-old girl has been left with devastating facial burns after copying a social media trend that involved microwaving a gel-filled squishy toy to make it softer.

Violet Zerbst, from Australia’s Gold Coast, placed her fidget toy in the microwave for about 30 seconds after seeing similar videos online. When she removed it and began to squeeze it, the toy suddenly exploded, spraying scalding gel across her face.

The boiling contents burned her skin instantly. Violet later recalled that she could feel her skin coming off and even ending up in her mouth as she screamed in pain.

Her mother rushed her to the bathroom and held her face under cold running water while her father called an ambulance. Violet was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital, where she remained for about a week receiving specialist treatment for severe burns.

Her father, Jody Zerbst, said he had casually remarked earlier that heating the squishy toy might make it softer, never imagining his daughter would put it in the microwave. He described the moment he heard her screams as horrific and said the skin on her face peeled away as she tried to spit it out of her mouth.

Hospital staff reported that Violet was the second child admitted in a week with burns linked to microwaved squishy toys, prompting renewed warnings about viral trends that encourage children to heat or modify toys in unsafe ways.

The Gold Coast incident mirrors a similar case in the United States, where nine-year-old Caleb Chabolla from Illinois suffered second-degree burns after microwaving a Needoh cube toy. He had reportedly heard from friends that heating the toy, a trend circulating on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, would make it softer.

Caleb’s mother, Whitney Grubb, said her son was left crying that it burned as the toy exploded, leaving him with serious burns to his face and hands. She described the right side of his face as appearing to melt.

Burn specialists and safety advocates are urging parents to monitor what children are watching online and to warn them that microwaving toys or other non-food items can cause explosions, chemical releases and life-changing injuries.