Science Experiment At Home Goes Horribly Wrong And 12-Year-Old Boy Needs Prayers

A home science experiment goes wrong, and now a 12-year-old boy needs our prayers.

***WARNING: This story discusses subject matter and includes images that may be considered very disturbing for some audiences***

Let’s all remember what it was like to be a high school student working on science experiments for school. To this day, my high school uses a plastic cup that I once accidentally set on fire when I put it on a Bunsen burner instead of a glass cup.

Not only did that mess burn down, but the substitute teacher who worked in the lab that day stopped teaching. My classmates still remember that she ran to our station and threw a blanket on the fire to put it out, which led to the evacuation of the entire school.

The point is that accidents happen. And when we’re in the middle of a crisis, we can use grace, love, and lots of prayer, especially Barrett McKim.

A home science experiment goes awry
Barrett McKim used the right equipment and instruments for his science project, including safety glasses. He was conducting a science experiment at home when something went wrong. The entire project was burned, including his body and shirt.

Goggles saved Barrett’s eyes and luckily his mother was helping him. As soon as she saw the fire for the first time, she jumped and tried to put it out. The flames burned 50 percent of Barrett’s body, leaving him with third-degree burns on 30 percent, due in part to the synthetic shirt he was wearing.

After Barrett and his mother arrived at the hospital, doctors treated the burns on her hands. Meanwhile, Barrett was transported to a burn center where he will have to undergo several skin graft surgeries.

When his family heard the news that a home science experiment had gone wrong, his uncle Stephen Schlautman immediately began to pray. He then set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of his medical bills, in addition to calling for prayer warriors to lift him up for recovery.

Barrett’s uncle led the effort to ask for prayers and set up a page for donations. He wrote: “Barrett loves science and has conducted many experiments. He is known to be cautious, as evidenced by the glasses he wore while performing the experiment.”

Prayers when the young man recovers
After Barrett McKim underwent his fifth surgery, Uncle Stephen updated the donation page. He added: “The hospital will be home to Barrett and his parents for weeks if not months!! Praying that God will continue to heal the skin…and that everyone will be amazed by the healing that is beyond what they think is humanly possible.”