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'I'm So Great': Girl Burned In Hot Water Challenge Remains Positive During Recovery
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 19, 2017
Modified Aug 19, 2017
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 19, 2017
Modified Aug 19, 2017
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The 11-year-old girl severely burned when a friend dumped boiling water on her during a sleepover is back home after a week and a half in the hospital. Jamoneisha Merritt told the Daily News, "I'm so great... Now I’m dancing and listening to music."
Jamoneisha was apparently the victim of the "Hot Water Challenge," a social media-driven stunt where kids are encouraged to post footage of themselves pouring boiling water on friends or drinking it themselves. On August 7, Jamoneisha was staying at a friend's apartment when the 12-year-old girl poured a cup of boiling water on her while she was sleeping.
"Her and her friend got into an argument," Jamoneisha's cousin claimed last week. "She told her if she goes to sleep, they were gonna do something to her. So, it was like 3:00 in the morning so she went to sleep. The girl on tape says she boiled water and she threw it on her."
Jamoneisha confirmed that two of the sleepover attendees said she'd be "pranked" if she fell asleep. She recalled, "I didn’t know what they was gonna do but I felt tired. So after I was dancing I just sat on the couch and I fell asleep." Then the hot water hit her, "I was screaming because it burned, it burned, it burned, it burned."
While her friend's mother tried to treat her, Jamoneisha told the News that the girls "were saying stop yelling and buggin."
Burns covered 85% of Jamoneisha's face, and her mother, Ebony Merritt, says her arm is still raw from the burns.
The friend was arrested and hospitalized after allegedly trying to kill herself. Ebony Merritt thinks her mother should be arrested, too, "The mother is just as involved as the other kids. This happened at 4 a.m. but they didn't come to my house until 5:30. That means she was there for an hour and a half while they were trying to cover their tracks."
Ebony Merritt has also set up a GoFundMe page for ongoing medical costs. She wrote earlier this week, "[O]n the behalf of my daughter I would like to thank you all you're truly amazing I swear I'm in good spirits because I got so much love all around the world and so did she she can't feel no better she's great she's in good spirits."
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Ebony Merritt
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Jamoneisha Merritt
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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