Boy, 7, Nearly Dies After Swallowing Magnets from Popular Game: ‘My Worst Nightmare'
Naomi Rivers said she found her 7-year-old son Eli choking after he swallowed magnets from the game Kluster, which is marketed to ages 14 and up
Eli needed emergency surgery and was at risk for severe internal damage from the magnets snapping together inside his body
Rivers is now urging others to make sure that the game is not used by young childrenA 7-year-old boy nearly died after swallowing magnets from a popular game, putting him at risk for severe internal damage.
On May 11, Naomi Rivers — from Grantham, England — was in her home when she suddenly heard her son Eli cry out in distress while he was watching TV. The 35-year-old found him choking and rushed to his aid.
'He was so panicked and he was really crying, it was really, really awful. I have a fear of choking anyway — it was my worst nightmare come to life,' she told Kennedy News and Media, via the Daily Mail.
Rivers said her son looked at her in "pure panic" and admitted to swallowing two magnets from a game, Kluster.
'He was putting one magnet on either side of his hand, and on different places on his body to see if they would stick together,' she said.
'Then he told me he wanted to see if they'd still stick if there was saliva between them — so he put one on the inside and one on the outside of his mouth,' she explained. 'They connected — and then he put them both in his mouth. He said he got the urge to swallow. He was choking on it because they're just smaller than a mint humbug.'
Kluster is marketed as a dexterity game. Players take turns placing magnetic stones within a circle of rope, trying to avoid triggering a chain reaction of the magnets snapping together. Borderline Editions, the game's manufacturer, states that the recommended age for playing Kluster is 14 and up, which is noted on its packaging and website.
The company states: 'Kluster contains small magnets with a magnetic induction flux greater than 50 kG²mm² which can be ingested. Therefore Kluster is not a toy and should be kept out of reach of children under 14 years old. Magnets stuck to each other or to a metal object inside the human body can cause serious injury or death. If magnets are swallowed or inhaled, seek medical assistance immediately.'
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Eli was rushed to Grantham and District Hospital, where an X-ray revealed that the magnets snapped together inside of his stomach, traveled to his small intestine and got stuck.
'When we told the doctors he'd swallowed two magnets, a lot happened very, very quickly,' Rivers recalled. 'Because it was more than one, there was a serious risk — they said he needed immediate treatment.'
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Rivers said doctors were concerned the magnets would attract through the walls of vital organs or tissue, causing life-threatening internal damage. They tried using laxatives, performing an endoscopy and keyhole surgery to remove them but all were unsuccessful.
With a high risk of internal damage, doctors transferred him to Queen's Medical Center in Nottingham for emergency surgery.
'They tried with multiple instruments and just couldn't get them,' Rivers said. 'In the end they opened him up — the incision was about 10cm, or four inches.'
Following the six-hour surgery on May 22, Eli spent four days in the hospital before making a full recovery. Rivers said she has thrown the game away and is now urging other parents to make sure that it's not used by young children.
'You want to encourage children to play with toys to get them off devices — and then something like this happens,' she told the outlet. 'My recommendation would be to not have these magnet toys around at all, and to educate children on how dangerous they are.'
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