A 10-year-old boy in the U.K. swallowed 16 small magnets and required major surgery, according to Live Science, when the magnets tore holes in his intestines from polar attraction.
Ball-shaped magnets, from a toy called Magnicube, were attracted to each other through the boy's intestinal walls, causing tears, multiple holes in the intestines and tissue death. The boy had 4-inches removed from his bowel as well as four holes repaired. He was in the hospital recuperating for two weeks, according to Live Science.
"Magnets are not toys for children," said Dr. Richard Hesketh, a physician at West Middlesex University Hospital in London. "I think most parents, if they knew magnets were potentially that dangerous if ingested, they wouldn't be allowing their children to play with them."
Studies have shown an increase in magnet ingestion over the last 10 years and more powerful magnets are causing more damage when ingested. Magnicubes were recalled in the United States in August.
"Awareness is the main thing," Hesketh said, according to Live Science. "I think people just aren't aware that something so seemingly harmless could actually be damaging. I think people are probably more aware that, for example, batteries contain chemicals that can damage the gut very substantially, but magnets seem like very innocuous objects.
"You need to bear in mind that children put all sorts of objects in their mouth, and doctors assessing nonspecific abdominal pain should always consider ingestion as a possible cause."
