Just read a heartbreaking article about a 9 year old boy who has lost his bowel and appendix and nearly died from swallowing magnetic balls. Please warn your children and grandchildren how dangerous these things are.
Revealed: The dangers of swallowing magnets - and why the NHS wants them banned
A potentially life threatening social media trend, involving tiny magnets that can be easily swallowed, triggered the NHS to call for a ban in May.
These tiny magnetic balls are widely sold as creative toys, with a recent TikTok craze seeing them used as fake facial piercings by teenagers.
The viral prank sees people place two magnetic balls either side of their tongue and wiggle it around, creating the illusion that their piercing is real.
NHS bosses issued a patient safety alert after at least 65 children were admitted to hospital for urgent surgery in the last three years after swallowing magnets.
The magnetic objects are forced together in the intestines or bowels, squeezing the tissue so that the blood supply is cut off.
Ingesting more than one can be life-threatening and cause significant damage within hours.
England’s top children’s doctor, Professor Simon Kenny, wants the magnets banned altogether to prevent further incidents.
They are much more complex than button batteries to extract.
The child will need emergency surgery, then, depending on the severity of the injuries, they may need numerous operations, bowel resection and time in paediatric intensive care.
Source: Child Accident Prevent Trust
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