Woman, 22, reveals horrific burns she suffered after throwing gallons of boiling water into the air to make it freeze during polar vortex
- Crystal Wallem was attempting to throw boiling water into the freezing air so it would turn into snow clouds, as she had seen in videos online
- But the trick didn't work and the water blew across her back instead, leaving her with second-degree burns and blisters
A woman who threw gallons of boiling water into the air in a bid to make it freeze during the polar vortex instead suffered excruciating burns when the trick backfired.
Crystal Wallem, 22, from Brown Deer, Wisconsin, decided to try out the trick after seeing videos showing people throwing hot water into the air before watching it turn to snow clouds above them.
So last Monday, she attempted it in sub-zero temperatures and, looking for a more dramatic effect as she tried it for the third time, she took a bucket with several gallons of water outside.
Scroll down for video: Warning: Graphic content
Burned: Crystal Wallem, 22, suffered second-degree burns after throwing boiling water during the polar vortex, after she had seen videos of it freezing mid-air. But the wind blew the water over her
'It was boiling on the stove for awhile,' she told Fox6. 'I actually took the temperature. It was 220 degrees or something.'
But when she released the bucket, the wind blew the scalding water across her back.
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'It hurt so bad,' she recounted. 'I was probably the worst pain I have ever felt.'
Her father, Scott Wallem, rushed with her to the hospital with second-degree burns. Images of her body show blisters and red burns across her entire back.
Ouch! Painful: Photographs show the second-degree burns across Crystal's back after the failed trick
Scars: Doctors say she will have to wear bandages for weeks and it will take a year for the scars to heal
As her father said in the waiting room, he was stunned to see broadcasters showing people completing the boiling-water-to-ice trick.
'It's like, people, if you saw my daughter’s back, you'd stop doing this,' he told Fox6.
'For somebody her age, it's fine to try it but just be careful - but little kids are on social media and little kids are on Facebook. We have to be careful what we put out there.'
He added that his daughter was the third person to check into the hospital with burns from trying to carry out the water trick.
Doctors told Crystal that she will have to wear bandages across her back for a few more weeks, and the scars could take up to a year to fade.
Failed: Crystal shows how she had attempted to throw water in the air to make it freeze on Monday
Mistake: Crystal, who said she had received a lot of criticism since suffering her injuries, said when she had never suffered anything so painful and warned others against trying out the trick
Before the Fox6 report went live, she joked on her Facebook page: 'Don't give me any c*** or I'll throw a pot of boiling water on you.'
She later lamented her decision, adding: 'It's amazing how one wrong move can turn your reputation from smart, talented girl to that stupid, idiot blonde.'
But she added her thanks for people who have wished her well.
Yet she was not alone: numerous people posted pictures and comments on social media of painful injuries after their experiment has gone horribly wrong.
One tweeted: 'I tried to throw boiling water in the air and it back fired..all the water spilled on me and now my leg is burned. Oops....'
Here's a more successful attempt...
Trick: She had been trying to create ice droplets as another person demonstrates in this video still
Boiling water turns into snow because freezing cold air holds less vapor than warmer air.
When the hot water is thrown into the cold air, the air gets more water vapor than it can hold, Mark Seeley, a climatologist at the University of Minnesota told LiveScience.
The water vapor clings to particles, crystallizing into a snow cloud.
Mr Seeley warned not to attempt this unless the temperature had dropped to -30F or below.
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