A 7-year-old boy from England almost died after ingesting two strong magnets from the game Cluster, which is not meant for kids younger than 14.
On May 11, Naomi Rivers, 35, claims she heard her son Eli choking while he was playing in the living room. It was terrible, Rivers told Kennedy News and Media, and he was crying and in a panic. I’m afraid of choking. This was the culmination of my darkest nightmare.
In the dexterity game Cluster, which involves positioning magnets inside a rope circle without allowing them to snap together, Rivers found that Eli had ingested two magnetic stones. The magnets are tiny—just smaller than a mint—but incredibly powerful.
Eli said that he had been experimenting with the magnets by positioning them on his torso and hand on opposing sides. He placed one magnet inside his mouth and the other outside to see if they would still adhere via saliva. He chose to put both in his mouth after they stuck together, and he claimed that this gave him the need to swallow.
Critical Risk and Emergency Response
Rivers hurried to Grantham and District Hospital with her son. The magnets had broken apart inside Eli’s stomach and traveled into his small intestine, where they became trapped, according to an X-ray. The matter was swiftly escalated by the doctors.
“The situation was critical because he swallowed two magnets,” Rivers said. They went quickly. They were actually feared to cause internal tearing by attracting through organ tissue.
After trying unsuccessfully to remove the magnets with laxatives, the doctors tried an endoscopic and keyhole surgery. After that, Eli was sent to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Center for urgent open surgery.
Rivers said that despite their best efforts, the magnets refused to move. In the end, they had to remove them by making a four-inch incision in his body.
Parental Request and Manufacturer Warning
Kluster is made by Borderline Editions and is marked as appropriate for children aged 14 and up. The magnets, according to the firm, are not toys and might be fatal if swallowed. As stated on the label:
Serious harm or even death can result when magnets trapped together inside the human body. If inhaled or ingested, get medical help right away.
Eli spent four days recuperating in the hospital following a six-hour procedure on May 22. His mother has thrown away the game and is telling their experience to other families as a warning, even though he is currently doing well.
Something like this occurs when you want your children to be playing with actual toys and not on screens, Rivers added. Parents should absolutely avoid keeping these kind of magnets in their homes, in my opinion. They are just too risky.
Rivers is hopeful that greater awareness may help stop another youngster from experiencing what Eli did. She claimed he was fortunate. Another child may not be.
