A TEENAGER who was scarred for life is warning youngsters of the dangers of a craze sweeping through schools.

Jordan Conlan, from Vange, was just 14-years-old when he decided to take part in the salt and ice challenge - which sees youngsters put salt on their skin and then hold an ice cube on top.

A chemical reaction similar to frostbite is created by the two substances, which burns the skin and can lead to horrendous scarring - which Jordan found out the hard way after taking part.

Now aged 17, he said: “I was with a group of my friends and we had gone out after school and saw the posts going around about the challenge on Facebook and thought we would be cool and do it.

“We decided to have a go but instead of putting it on our hand we did it on our stomachs.

“We didn’t do it for that long but it was on for a good minute.

“The bit on my stomach kind of froze and then an hour later started to really hurt.

“I had to go to the doctors and he told me I had severely burnt myself and would have a scar for the rest of my life.

“He also told me I was stupid and I thought that was fair enough really.”

The South Essex College student now has a large scar on his stomach which has affected his confidence - but he knows the damage could have been much worse.

He said: “I hate showing my body to people because of my scar, but it could be so much worse - you could get third degree burns from it and need a skin graft.”

He has recently seen posts on Facebook from youngsters in south Essex who have also done the challenge, which has become popular in Britain after sweeping through America, and wants to urge them to think twice.

He said: “I don’t think people realise the actual damage it can do. They just think it’s something silly which will look cool but it’s so dangerous.

“I just really don’t want people to suffer the pain I did or to have the long-lasting horrible thing it has left me with.”

A schoolboy from Swansea, Wales, was left so badly burnt after doing the challenge that he required hospital treatments, with doctors even considering giving him a skin graft.

The damage to his hand was so deep that it burnt all of his nerve endings.