Louisiana man’s Gorilla Glue challenge goes terribly wrong, sent to ER
Len Martin thought he could prove the clip of Tessica Brown, who went viral for accidentally using Gorilla Glue in her hair, wasn't serious.
A Louisiana man who has a history of doing viral challenges made up a new one this week, and it promptly sent him on a trip to the emergency room.
Len Martin of Baton Rouge said he created The Gorilla Glue Challenge to prove that the video of Tessica Brown, a woman who went viral for accidentally using the household adhesive in her hair, was not serious.
“Everyone is on social media,” Martin said about his dismissal of Brown’s fateful act. “Every day, there is a new challenge, but I did not think it would go this far.”
Last year, Martin appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show,” where he talked about participating in an ice cream challenge in which people licked ice cream in grocery-store freezers and put it back. He warned then that there were consequences to participating in viral challenges.
In a Facebook video shared by WFLA, Martin dispensed some Gorilla Glue on a red Solo cup and stuck it to his lip, thinking he could take it right off. He was wrong.
Doctors in a Baton Rouge emergency room had to do what Martin described as a “painful peeling” of the plastic cup from his upper lip. He was also told that if his injury doesn’t heal correctly, he may lose his lip’s tip via surgery.
Read More: Beyond Gorilla Glue: The politics of Black women’s hair
“This is not the challenge you want to try,” Martin said. “Do not try this.”
Brown, also a Louisiana native, shared on TikTok that she used the adhesive on her hair after running out of her favorite hair spray. She’s told, in over 27 million views, that her hair has been stuck to her scalp for weeks.
“Those of you that know me know that my hair has been like this for about a month now,” Brown says at the beginning of the video. “It’s not by choice. No, it’s not by choice.”
Read More: Black woman who used Gorilla Glue in hairstyle mishap goes viral
She recently refuted a report that she is planning to sue Gorilla Glue.
A GoFundMe to help her cover medical costs has recently exceeded $20,000, and according to TMZ, Dr. Michael Obeng completed a four-hour procedure to remove the sealant from Brown’s scalp Wednesday. There’s no word on whether the Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon has extended the same offer to Martin.
In a statement, Gorilla Glue said: “Our spray adhesive states in the warning label, ‘do not swallow, Do not get in eyes, on skin or on clothing…’ It is used for craft, home, auto or office projects to mount things to surfaces such as paper, cardboard, wood, laminate and fabric.”
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