An Oklahoma City family is warning parents after they say a viral social media trend led to serious injuries for their 11-year-old son.

Koltyn Preston says he saw videos online showing people microwaving NeeDoh stress toys to make them softer. He says he tried it himself and within seconds, it went wrong.

“I put it in the microwave,” said Koltyn. “It wouldn’t come off and it was burning.”

The hot gel inside the toy splattered across his face and neck.

His mother, Kami Gill, was in another room when she suddenly heard him scream.

“I’m sitting on my bed taking a bite of my sandwich and I hear this scream,” said Gill. “I’m like, what in the world could have happened?”

She says she rushed to help him and quickly realized the severity of the injury.

“It was terrifying and terrible,” said Gill.

Koltyn was taken to the hospital, where he stayed overnight. Gill says he has since undergone multiple wound care appointments and is still recovering weeks later.

“If it would have got in his eyes, he’d be blind,” she said. “He’s been under anesthesia twice to scrub the wounds.”

Gill also says that when she later looked at the packaging, she noticed a warning label that was difficult to see.

“There’s a giant barcode over the warning label,” she said. “If you’re not looking for it, you don’t see it.”

Doctors say they’ve received questions about similar online trends involving the toys and warn that they should never be heated.

“The material inside heats up very fast and it can blow up,” said Dr. Ryan Brown at OU Children’s. “It can explode in the microwave or once you get it out it can burn your hands or explode into your face.”

Gill is sharing her family’s experience in hopes that other parents will talk with their children about what they see online before trying viral trends themselves.

The manufacturer, Schylling, says microwaving, heating or freezing NeeDoh products is dangerous and can cause injury.

The company says it has worked with TikTok to remove videos showing misuse and has added safety warnings to packaging and online listings.

Plans for Oklahoma City’s proposed Legends Tower are still alive, but the developer says the biggest challenge may not be federal approval, it’s whether there’s enough demand to fill it.

Developer Scot Matteson told News 9 that while discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration are ongoing, his primary concern has shifted to the market.

“We’re excited to get going,” Matteson said.

The Boardwalk at Bricktown project has been years in the making, with progress slowed in part by uncertainty surrounding its centerpiece, a proposed 1,907-foot tower that would rank among the tallest buildings in the country.
In a 2024 report, the FAA called the massive structure a potential “hazard to air navigation.”

Matteson pushed back on those concerns, saying the site is outside protected airspace zones.

“We are not in the flight pattern,” he said. “We’re outside of that zone, just like Devon Tower is.”

Still, he said the tower’s future may ultimately depend less on federal approval and more on market realities.

“It does have a lot of residential units in it, for sale and for rent,” Matteson said. “We’ll just see how the market plays out before we start construction on that.”

For now, developers are moving forward with Phase 1 of the project, which does not include the tower. That phase is expected to feature an underground parking garage, approximately 150,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, apartments, and a dual-branded Hyatt hotel. All planned buildings in the first phase would stand under 500 feet tall. He’s hopeful for a phase 2.

“We just felt that there was market demand when we looked at it and we think that demand will keep growing,” he said. “The city, population and job growth are all trending in the right direction.”

Matteson said surrounding developments could help drive demand for the project, from the future Thunder arena and MAPS 4 soccer stadium to the convention center and Riversport facilities.

“I think it’s more of a sports and entertainment district now than it was before. We believe we’ll be able to have a lot of synergies within that district.”

Groundbreaking for phase 1 is expected later this summer. Matteson said the project could eventually get a new name as developers look at rebranding.