Tauranga, New Zealand: A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand had to have emergency surgery after ingesting almost 100 high-powered magnets. This shows how dangerous magnetic toys can be.
A case report in the New Zealand Medical Journal says that the teenager came to Tauranga Hospital with a lot of pain in their stomach. At first, he said he had swallowed about 100 neodymium magnets a week before, but X-rays showed that there were far more magnets in his digestive system.
Damage to the inside that could kill you
The scans showed that four strands of magnets were stuck in different sections of his intestines. Once inside, the magnets pushed together through parts of the colon, cutting off blood supply and creating pressure necrosis, which is when tissue starts to die because it doesn’t get enough oxygen.
Doctors found magnet chains in the small intestine and caecum during surgery, so they had to take out pieces of the injured intestines. The youngster got better quickly, and eight days later he was sent home.
Alex Sims, a business law researcher at the University of Auckland, said, “This case study shows that eating small, strong magnets can kill you.”
The Dangers of Magnetic Toys
Because they are small and brightly colored, neodymium magnets are very appealing to kids. They are sometimes sold in sets as fidget toys or shape-making kits. If you ingest them, they can hurt your insides badly, even cause your gut to burst, get an infection, or even kill you.
The report didn’t say why the youngster ate the magnets. But officials in New Zealand have warned about a trend on social media where kids use magnets to pretend to have piercings in their tongues, noses, or lips, which can lead to their accidentally swallowing them.
Doctors are telling parents to keep strong magnets away from kids and to watch them play, especially with sets that have a lot of small pieces.
Sims went on to say, “Parents should know about the hidden dangers of magnetic toys.” “Even one magnet can be very dangerous if you eat it.”