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Eight-year-old swallows magnets and steel balls
Filed under: Tweens, Health & Safety: Babies, Nutrition: Health, In The News, Weird But True, Toys, Gadgets
No, this isn't something out of a circus side show. An eight-year-old girl from Indiana swallowed a combined total of 30 magnets and steel balls from a toy. The toys parts tore her intestines and doctors are saying she is lucky to be alive. Haley Lents told the Early Show anchors she swallowed ten magnets and 20 steel balls because they looked like CANDY. She spent two weeks in the hospital after being taken to the emergency room where doctors discovered eight bullet-like holes in her intestines. Even scarier for parents is the mom and dad say they were both in the same room with Haley when she consumed the parts!
This story sort of reminds me of that Curious George story wherein George eats the puzzle piece and has to go to the hospital to have it removed. That story was sweet and a little sad but had a happy ending. And it was just a STORY. This poor girl, whose father is confused because he claims she is too smart to do anything like that, is lucky to still be with us after undertaking such a task.
Mega Brands, who make the Magnetix toy, have issued a statement but not accepted responsibility. Haley's father noted however that the new version does not contain magnetic parts that can be swallowed, and does not feel the company has done enough to warn parents of the real dangers of toys with magnetic parts. It's not clear from the article whether the toy was considered age-appropriate for an eight-year-old.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
6-04-2008 @ 2:20PM
Uly said...If she's eight years old and still swallowing toys "because they look like candy" (and more than once! I can see making a single mistake of that nature, but 30?), that's not the company's fault.
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6-04-2008 @ 10:23AM
SAM said..."Haley's father does not feel the company has done enough to warn parents of the real dangers of toys with magnetic parts." Give me a break! You have to live under a rock to not have heard about the dangers of magnets. I packed up and sent back all my 11 yr. olds Polly's because of the danger to my younger kids. What else do people need companies to do?
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6-04-2008 @ 10:30AM
Darlene said...I wonder if there isn't more to it. Even my 3-year-old knows the difference between candy and a magnet. I can see eating the first one thinking it was candy, but why would she eat the other nine? It's sad and I'm glad she lived to tell about it.
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6-04-2008 @ 10:59AM
nancy said...what the heck is wrong with that girl? im sorry but eight years old is way too old for something like that... absurd..
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6-04-2008 @ 12:02PM
Judy said...How very strange. I think there's more going on here too. Bizarre.
And I hear all the time from parents who didn't know the danger of magnets, or hadn't heard about recalls, or didn't know about mercury in fish, and I don't know how that happens. I don't watch TV (don't own one) and get all of my information from print and internet. Maybe other parents just really aren't paying any attention at all. I don't know.
Weird.
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6-04-2008 @ 2:56PM
c_rousseau05 said...Poor girl, i'm glad she's ok. I know i've been in the same room with my daughter (who is 9 months old) when she's gotten something into her mouth, even looking away for two seconds can cause something bad to happen........but I don't go blaming the company that made the item, it's my own fault for not paying attention plain and simple. Of course I never look away from her for more than a few seconds at a time. However, to swallow 20 of those balls and magnets.......i'd think that would take a while, even if they looked away for a few seconds i'd think they would see what she was doing, or at least look away from what they were doing every few moments to check her. 8 years old or not, children still need supervision, not just a body in the room.
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6-04-2008 @ 5:00PM
Lisa said...So, candy is swallowed whole and not chewed?
Clearly. Because if this so-called "smart" 8-year-old had bitten the magnets and steel balls, she would have known it wasn't food.
Also, I would like to see this "candy-looking" toy. My son has some Magnetix, and they don't look anything like candy.
Dumb kid, or parents out to make a buck. Take your pick.
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6-06-2008 @ 6:18PM
colleenzaqueen said...wait wait wait---- the father of this EIGHT-YEAR-OLD faults the manufacturer of this product for improper labels???? are you kidding me right now?
How about taking some responsibility. He wasnt watching his irresponsible kid and she swallowed stuff that wasnt supposed to be in her mouth in the first place.
Here's to another frivolous lawsuit that will be settled out of court.
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6-06-2008 @ 7:17PM
colleenzaqueen said...oh and btw-- there was a recall on magnetix because of the choking hazard they pose. This was a few years ago.
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6-16-2008 @ 4:10PM
Melissa said...The original broadcast of this story is here:
http://www.knbc.com/news/16377057/detail.html
If Jennifer had taken the time to do her research, she would know that this girl was adopted from Russia and had an existing compulsion to "eat everything." I have to place the true blame on her parents who knew this about her and bought her the Magnetix anyway. But it begs the question "wouldn't she know after like the 2nd or 3rd magnet that they weren't candy?"
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