While food is often shared to bring people together in delicious harmony, it can also push one to their physical and mental limit.

At Pluckers Wing Bar, the highest honor that can be bestowed to a customer is a place on the Wall of Flame. To become an addition to the wall, one must consume fifteen chicken wings coated in Plucker’s spiciest sauce in 15 minutes. On Monday, Student Council President, senior Anna Lyon, and her brother, junior Blake Lyon, took the challenge.

“We decided to do it spontaneously,” Anna said. “I saw a girl post a Tik Tok of her crying while eating during the wing challenge, but she stuck it through and completed it. I thought it was really funny so I asked people to do it with me. I wanted a day to mentally prepare, but we realized we were only available that night so we decided to just do it. It was now or never.”

While the Wall of Flame Challenge is meant to be a test of one’s self, it became a form of sibling competition for Blake. However, it would be a competition he would ultimately lose.

“I wanted to do the challenge to see if I beat my sister,” Blake said. “My technique was to go fast and drink lots of water. I was not able to finish once I got down to the last 2 wings because of how much total food I had already consumed.”

While Anna was the one to complete the challenge, she did so through a great deal of turmoil. 

“After I took my first bite the spice lit up my mouth,” Anna said. “However, I was expecting it to be a LOT spicier and I realized that I could do it. The hardest part was finishing all the wings. I can barely eat 10 wings on a good day, so it got to the point where the spice wasn’t a problem but eating the wings was. We had to use our glasses of water to help us get the food down.”

While her brother threw in the towel, Anna would lock in and finish the Wall of Flame Challenge in 13 minutes, bringing both pride and pain.

“After I finished, I was so happy because I said I was going to finish and actually did it,” Anna said. “I got to take a picture to be put up on the Wall of Flame and also a T-shirt. My mouth was still burning and the consequences lasted a full day after, with my stomach aching from how much food it was.”

Although only two wings away from success and a coveted place on the Wall of Flame, Blake doubts he will ever return to retake the challenge.

“I do not think I would try it again,” Blake said .”It was pretty brutal, but if I had to give advice on how to finish I’d say to mentally block out the spice and focus on just eating the food.”

Anna, now a member of the Wall of Flame, had similar thoughts to her brother. 

“I think anyone can do the challenge,” Anna said. “Would I do the challenge again? No. Could I? Probably. You tend to not think about the spice once you keep eating. I just wouldn’t want to feel so sick from eating too much. I would need to go on an empty stomach and on a day I’m feeling really hungry. You just need to be able to eat 15 wings.”