Last August, a 19 month old child died after swallowing 7 small magnetic balls from a necklace. Her brother brought home the necklace from school. The necklace broke and the little girl managed to swallow the actual magnets on the necklace. Not knowing what was happening, the mother found the little girl unresponsive with blood coming from her nose and mouth. The girl was rushed to the hospital and told she most likely had a virus. The next day the child died. Wanting to know what really happened, an autopsy was performed and it was discovered that the magnets attached to one another and perforated the child’s bowel, causing the child to become septic.
Regulators are now trying to ban these high powered magnets made popular by the product Buckyballs, which were recalled in July.
This is the first known child to die as a result of this product. However, about 7,700 children ended up in the emergency room last year as a result of ingesting the magnets.