Girl, 10, nearly dies after swallowing magnetic balls
A GIRL aged ten who acci- dentally swallowed 15 tiny magnetic balls had major surgery after they tore through her intestines.
Sadie Latham could have died when the toy magnets fused together in her bowel, her mother said.
Doctors removed almost seven centimetres (3ins) of Sadie’s damaged intestine in an operation at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, in Liverpool. Her mother, Catherine Latham, 44, spoke out to warn other parents against buying the magnets, which have become the latest craze among primary school children.
Although the balls can be used to create pictures and patterns, some children have been placing them on their ear lobes, noses and lips to resemble piercings. Unbeknown to Mrs Latham, Sadie had placed the balls on her teeth to pretend that she had braces. She then fell asleep – and accidentally swallowed them without realising.
Sadie started suffering stomach pains three weeks later and was taken to hospital, where doctors believed she had appendicitis.
But as they prepared to remove her appendix, she was sent for an X-ray, which revealed the magnets.
Fifteen balls were removed in a two-hour operation earlier this month and Sadie spent six days in total in hospital.
She has been off school since the ordeal, and is recovering at home in Kirkby, Liverpool.
‘Sadie was extremely lucky,’ said Mrs Latham, a support worker. ‘She could have died. She had been in bed pretending to do braces on her teeth. They’re that strong that she put one behind and one on the front of her tooth.’
Mrs Latham said Sadie’s surgeon told her ten of his last 40 operations had involved removing the magnets from children. She added: ‘You only need to swallow two of them to do damage. They should be banned for safety reasons.’
Mrs Latham, a mother of two, bought the magnetic balls from a
‘They should be banned’
third party seller on Amazon this year. She said Sadie has ‘a hundred’ that she keeps in a tin.
The magnets are marketed as ‘educational’ toys.
‘People are buying them not knowing that they can be potentially fatal,’ Mrs Latham added.
‘I’ve contacted Amazon to try and get them taken down but they don’t seem to be bothered. All my reviews keep disappearing... Amazon sent Sadie a get well teddy but all their emails are generic ones, the magnets are still for sale.’
A spokesman for Amazon said: ‘Safety is a top priority at Amazon. We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations and have developed industry-leading tools to prevent unsafe or non-compliant products from being listed in our stores.’