Kids will put anything in this mouth, and as a result, one young boy has turned himself into a walking hazard after eating magnets. He is now advised to stay away from metal, obviously.
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For two years, the boy had only used the toy magnets for their intended purpose. But, one day, as kids will, he decided to put them in his mouth. According to the story he told his mother, he was putting the magnets on either side of his tongue, pretending they were a piercing.
"He said he thought it would be 'cool' having a tongue piercing," his mother told the New York Post. "He had tried to make it look like a tongue piercing, and as soon as he had done that, they pinged off his tongue and popped together."
By some unlucky turn of events, they shot down his throat. The boy now had two rather strong magnets inside his body, rattling around his digestive system. This posed somewhat of a problem, and they were small but powerful. So, she took the magnetic man to the doctors to see what could be done.
Young Boy Got Lucky With His Swallowed Magnets
Thankfully for the young 8-year-old boy, he was fortunate enough for the magnets to click together before they went down his throat. If they had gone down separately there were a lot of possible complications. Doctors X-rayed his stomach and found them clumped together.
The X-ray showed that the magnets were smooth and not all around his stomach. The worry was that they would pinch an organ. Also, the doctor stated, if they were sharp they could tear the bowel. The small magnetic man was kept in hospital for the night. There have been several deaths linked to magnetic toys.
The next morning they examined him again and found the magnets had moved to the right of the boy's body. This was a good sign. Now, all he has to do is wait to pass them. However, until he does, he's been advised to stay away from metal.
"They told us to keep magnetic items and clothes away from him, even [zippers], because the magnets in his body can follow the zips. We had to make sure we had no clothing like that for a good few weeks." As a result of eating magnets, he is now a walking hazard.
