A young boy was rushed to the hospital after swallowing dozens of magnetic beads.
5-year-old Jude Foley from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, is lucky to be alive after eating 52 magnetic toy beads that formed large clusters in his digestive system.
After the child fell sick, he was taken to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to remove the beads and his appendix. The boy’s bowel also had to be cut open in five different places to remove all of the magnets stuck inside.
“The doctor thought that he was lying on a necklace at first but upon looking at it, I knew straight away that it was these beads,” Jude’s mother, 34-year-old Lyndsey Foley, recalled.
“Then within five minutes, the doctors were arranging for an ambulance to take us down to the Children’s Hospital in Cardiff.
“We got blue lighted down. I started to panic. It was only then that I realized how serious it was.”
She added: “The surgeon said if I hadn’t brought him in when I did, it could have been fatal.
“Due to the nature of the bowel and the force of the beads, it was tearing holes in his bowel which was causing his bowel to leak so infection was spreading through his body. He was getting poisoned.”
The mother also explained that she bought the magnetic beads for her daughter, 8, and had no idea that her son had swallowed all of them until he fell ill.
While the tiny magnets remain a relatively popular toy for young children, experts have warned that they pose a serious danger due to their size allowing kids to ingest them easily or insert them in openings such as the nose or ears.
Warning other parents not to repeat her mistakes, Foley said:
“If you’ve got these beads at home, remove them. They are so dangerous. I still have that guilt, thinking what I put my child though or what could have been, how his life could have changed through me purchasing a toy that you think is safe.
“I never would have thought the damage it would have caused. Jude has learnt his lesson now – don’t put anything in your mouth. And me, as a parent, I am more aware of what I am buying.”
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