A man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana found himself in the emergency room after trying to start a viral “Gorilla Glue Challenge.” After Tessica Brown’s plight to remove the powerful adhesive from her hair, Len Martin set out to prove that the glue wasn’t as strong as Brown made it seem.
“I thought she was just playing around; I didn’t think it was that serious,” Martin told Fox 8. “All these challenges going on, I thought, ‘I’ma go ahead and try it.’ And it went backwards.”
The challenge, Martin explained, began with him using Gorilla Glue to attach a red Solo Cup to his upper lip. In an Instagram video of the challenge, Martin was sure he’d be able to simply lick the glue off.
“That didn’t work, though,” he told Fox 8.
The man then went to the emergency room, where he stayed for over an hour. Doctors were able to separate the cup from his lip by what Martin described as “painful peeling.” He now has to keep his lip covered to allow the skin to heal and may have to get the tip of his lip surgically removed.
Martin reportedly has a history of participating in viral challenges. Last year, he appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show” to talk about the harmful effects of the “Ice Cream Challenge,” in which social media users licked grocery store ice cream and returned it to the shelf.
When speaking about his own “Gorilla Glue Challenge,” Martin said, “This is not the challenge you want to try. Do not try this.”
On Thursday (Feb. 11), REVOLT reported that Tessica Brown had finally removed the Gorilla Glue from her hair thanks to a successful procedure by a Beverly Hills surgeon. The glue was stuck in her hair for over a month after she used it as hairspray.
“Our spray adhesive states in the warning label: ‘Do not swallow, do not get in eyes, on skin or on clothing,’” the Gorilla Glue Company said in a statement. “It is used for craft, home, auto or office projects to mount things to surfaces such as paper, cardboard, wood, laminate and fabric.”
See Martin’s video below.