A mum has warned against a dangerous new trend currently doing the rounds in school playgrounds, sharing graphic images of her daughter's arm after it became severely burnt from the 'Deodorant Challenge'.
Jamie Prescott, whose daughter Ellie is in year 10 at school, said the challenge damaged the arm so badly that her daughter may even need a skin graft.
Jamie shared the warning - and the photos - on Facebook, writing: "I seldom rarely do this, but on this occasion, I would like this post spread wide and far.
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"For any parents who have children, please, please sit them down and show them these pictures.
"These are the damaging results of something known as 'The Deodorant Challenge' which is currently doing the rounds in Yate and literally involves spraying deodorant on to someone else for as long as possible.
"It's that simple and results in severe secondary burns.
"The pictures below are that of my Year 10 daughter's arm THREE WEEKS ON which may still as yet require a skin graft."
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The post has since been shared almost 3,000 times.
"That is horrendous!" one person commented.
Another wrote: "My goodness - thank you for highlighting it I'd never heard of it."
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Someone else said: "Thanks for sharing. This is the sort of thing my middle son would do! Will be showing him tomorrow! ! I hope your daughter improves soon."
Another said: "Omg can't believe what I'm reading. I really hope your daughter won't need a skingraft."
The challenge involves spraying deodorant onto someone's skin for as long as possible, and can result in severe burning.
Speaking to Somerset Live more than two weeks after the incident, Jamie explained: "She [Ellie] still regularly has to see a practice nurse and go to the surgery once a week.
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"The incident happened on Tuesday (April 18), but I did not notice anything until she came home from school on the Wednesday as it had blistered up a lot by that stage.
"As you can see from the yellow padding, it is still weeping excessively."
Ellie reportedly went to her local park with some friends from her former school when the incident took place.
Jamie said: "She went out and met with them... for a couple of hours.
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"Apparently, when they asked her to put out her arm she did it but she had no idea of the consequences and hadn't even heard of The Deodorant Challenge before that point.
"Since then other children have asked her what is wrong with her arm and when she has told them, they have then replied that they have also had it done to them and showed her their scars."
Jamie is hopeful that in sharing her daughter's story, she will help prevent others from doing the same thing.
"Even if we can prevent just one more child from going through this, it will be worth it," she said.
"I absolutely hate being in the limelight and writing public posts and having attention, but in this particular instance, this challenge really needs to be made as public as possible.
"It's just horrendous and needs stopping."
Featured Image Credit: Jamie Prescott