Another stupid human trick

[zzyzzx]

http://www.galvnews.com/report.lasso?wcd=5004
Boy says he burned himself copying TV stunt
Published October 09, 2002

DICKINSON — Juston Kyles is not allowed to say the name of the show he says he was watching when a friend convinced him to be set on fire.

“I call it, ‘Donkey,’” said Juston, 9.

Juston said he was spending the night at a Silbernagel Elementary School classmate’s house Friday, when they saw an episode of the MTV program “Jackass.” Network representatives said he must have been watching something else, however.

On the show, Juston said, a stuntman showed how he set himself on fire, step by step.

Juston let his friend wrap his arm in paper towels, douse it in gasoline and put a lit match to it, as he said he had seen the stuntman do.

The stunt left Juston with second- and third-degree burns from the tips of the fingers on his left hand to his left elbow.

“Jackass” is an MTV series featuring people taking part in stunts like jumping into a vat at a wastewater treatment plant.

Someone tuning in would not have seen anyone catching himself on fire, said MTV spokeswoman Marnie Malter.

“They could not have been watching ‘Jackass’ when this happened, because, factually, that show has not aired in a year and a half, and that show has never had anything even close to that,” she said.

Malter said the program had never featured anyone setting himself on fire, but in 2000 one episode feature a cast member being covered in steaks and set ablaze.

Police in Connecticut said that episode was the impetus for a burning episode that critically injured a teen in January 2001.

Juston said he suffered his burns between midnight and 1 a.m. Saturday. Local television listings show that MTV was airing rock music videos during that time.

The boys first tried to douse the flames on Juston’s arm with water, but failed. Juston was more successful with another trick he said he learned from the same show.

“I stopped, dropped and rolled,” he said.

Juston said he then called his mother’s cell phone.

“Luckily, she answered,” he said. “I told her I had been burned, and she said, ‘You’d better not be lying to me because it’s 1 a.m.’”

Juston and his mother, Donna Kyles, were planning to visit a burn specialist Tuesday, and did not know how extensive the scarring on his arm would be or if he would suffer any long-term loss of motion.

Juston, a member of the Silbernagel’s fourth grade Gifted and Talented program, admitted allowing his friend to set him on fire was not the smartest thing he had ever done.

“I learned not to play with fire, to say no to stupid things and not to get pressured into something I know is wrong,” he said.

Juston will not be back in school until next week, but his mother said at least a certain portion of his classmates had not forgotten him.

“He got all these letters, and I was looking through them, wondering, ‘Where are the boys?’” said Donna Kyles. “He got all these letters from girls in his class.”

She said she would not be writing MTV any love letters, however. While she had not decided whether to pursue a legal claim, Donna Kyles said she had emailed the network and asked them not to air repeats of the series.

“I know it was canceled, but when you show the reruns, whether it’s a dumb old stunt or a dumb new stunt, it’s still stupid,” she said.

[Ducatti20]

Juston's mom should be reconsidering the wisdom in letting her child sleep over at that friends house again.... 9 and MTV and access to gasoline and matches???

[tenders]

Juston's mom should be reconsidering the wisdom in letting her child sleep over at that friends house again.... 9 and MTV and access to gasoline and matches???

i agree. you would think that the parents would be keeping an eye on them.

[Ducatti20]

Gee.. Mom, can I go play with tommy's chainsaw?? we'll be careful!!

[SteveDVD]

That doesnt even sound like Jackass to me... Probably some Real TV thing....