A 12-year-old Brownsburg girl is speaking out after a gel-filled sensory toy exploded in her microwave, blasting scorching material into her face and neck. Kelsey Dybala needed surgery and a skin graft and spent a week in the burn unit at Riley Hospital for Children, her family said. Her parents say they want other families to see how fast a viral social-media "hack" can turn from harmless trend to hospital stay.
According to the family, Kelsey had been heating a NeeDoh Nice Cube in short spurts of about five seconds at a time for roughly one minute total when the toy suddenly burst and the gel sprayed her face. As reported by WTHR, the family said the contents of the toy climbed past 200 degrees, leaving Kelsey with second-degree burns on her chin and third-degree burns on her neck. Hospital staff operated on her and placed a skin graft while she was treated in the pediatric burn unit, the family said.
Not an isolated incident
Hospitals around the country are now reporting similar injuries after kids microwave the gel-filled cubes in an effort to make them softer. As reported by Good Morning America, Loyola Medicine treated a 9-year-old whose Nice Cube exploded and said it had seen multiple such cases this year. A February case in Maywood showed how quickly the risky trend has spread.
Manufacturer warnings
The toy’s maker, Schylling, includes a clear warning on its product page and packaging that the Nice Cube should not be heated: "Do NOT heat, freeze, or microwave" the toy because it may cause injury. The company’s listing for the Nice Cube repeats that language along with safety guidance, and many retailers carry the same advisory; see Schylling for details. Parents and pediatric safety advocates argue that fine-print warnings only go so far when viral clips make risky behavior look harmless.
What experts and hospitals advise
Health professionals say families should treat microwave "hacks" as real hazards, not household experiments, and that adults should closely supervise younger kids around kitchen appliances. Riley Hospital and burn specialists recommend simple precautions such as keeping children at least three feet away from stoves, following microwave-safety tips like letting heated items sit before handling to avoid hot spots, and setting home water heaters to 120°F to reduce scald risk, per reporting. Doctors and safety advocates are urging parents to talk directly with kids about online trends and to make sure children know to ask an adult before trying anything they see on social apps.
Calls for investigation
Consumer Reports has asked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to look into potential chemical-burn risks from the gel inside squeeze toys like the Nice Cube, citing injury reports and consumer complaints. The group’s push highlights a broader debate over how much responsibility manufacturers and social platforms bear when foreseeable misuse collides with viral content. For now, doctors and hospitals say that close supervision, clear rules about kitchen appliances, and blunt conversations about online "hacks" remain families’ best defense.
