There have been a fair share of trendy, destructive social media "challenges" on YouTube over the years: The "
Cinnamon Challenge," the "
24 Hour Polar Plunge Challenge" and, at one point in 2014, the "
Fire Challenge," where — that's right — you set yourself on fire.
But after a British YouTube prankster's stunt went so badly Wednesday he required a fire brigade rescue, it seems unlikely the "Cement-Your-Head-In-A-Microwave Challenge" will gain any traction.
Jay Swingler, a 22-year-old from Wolverhampton, England, runs the TGFbro YouTube channel with his co-star, Romell Henry, who together post videos of themselves playing with explosives, soaking in tubs of fake tanner or trying to set themselves in jelly. Some of his videos have had more than 2 million views.
This week, the pair decided to try something
especially dramatic.
Swingler put his head inside a microwave, which was then filled with Polyfilla, a spackling paste used to filled holes and cracks in walls. A plastic tube was supposed help him "actually breathe" as the material solidified and expanded around his head.
Swingler's friends tried to disassemble the microwave and free him but weren't successful. The microwave was stuck on his head for 90 minutes before a friend called 999 for help around 1:49 p.m. Wednesday, fire officials said. Firefighters and paramedics arrived within minutes and
spent about an hour wrangling and chiseling away at the microwave.
"Taking the microwave apart was tricky, because a lot of it was welded," said West Midlands Fire Service Watch Commander Shaun Dakin
in a statement posted to the fire service's website. "(Swingler) was very relieved when we removed a large chunk of the Polyfilla with a screwdriver, allowing him to breathe more easily. But we had to be extremely careful with the screwdriver, working so closely to his head."
Once he was freed, Swingler said in the video that he "never appreciated life so much, ever."
"Oh my God, oh my God, I love you guys," he told firefighters and paramedics in the video when they removed the microwave.
Emergency rescue officials hope the stunt will serve as a warning to other pranksters that YouTube views aren't worth the danger associated with certain dares.
"As funny as this sounds, this young man could quite easily have suffocated or have been seriously injured," Dakin said.
The fire service expressed its frustration in a tweet, saying it was "seriously unimpressed," by the stunt. In a follow-up video statement posted to Twitter, West Midlands Fire station commander Simon Woodward said that if fire crews are busy attending to irresponsible YouTube video entertainers, those crews won't be able to help others in need of assistance.
Woodward said the service charge for the help should have been about 650 pounds — or about $870 — but that they won't charge Swingler because he was in serious danger.
"What I'd like to do is remind everybody not to put their lives at risk for the sake of other people's entertainment," Woodward said.
Gizmodo reported that the video included advertisements Friday morning, but that the advertisements were gone by early afternoon.
A YouTube spokesperson told Gizmodo that the video was demonetized because it contained "content that promotes harmful or dangerous acts that result in serious physical, emotional, or psychological injury is not suitable for advertising."
