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3-year-old 37 Buckyballs

March 6, 2012 by · Comments Off on 3-year-old 37 Buckyballs 

3-year-old 37 Buckyballs, Payton Bushnell, a 3-year old toddler from Portland, Oregon, is in full recovery after undergoing emergency surgery to remove 37 Rare Earth Buckyballs magnets from her intestines.

The toddler’s parents thought Payton Bushnell had the flu when she wasn’t feeling well, but after her symptoms didn’t get better, they took her to the doctor. Doctors took an X-ray of her stomach when they saw a circle.

Payton’s mother, Kelli Bushnell said, “They saw a circle had formed in her stomach, and they thought she swallowed a bracelet.”

When the doctors tried to remove it from the toddler’s stomach, they then realized what they were dealing with and it wasn’t a bracelet. It was 37-high powered Buckyballs magnets that are meant for adults.

Sandy Nipper, R.N., from Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel’s Safety Store said, “In all the research I have done, I have never seen any child swallow more than 10 magnets.”

The doctors were able to remove the magnets during an invasive surgical procedure. By the time Payton Bushnell had surgery, the magnets had already damaged her lower intestine and ripped a small hole in her stomach, but they were able to repair the tears and holes in surgery.

Kelli Bushnell, Payton’s mother said, “I’m thinking that she kind of put two and two together and thought these look like what we put on Christmas cookies. If we had any idea what those magnets could have done to our daughter’s intestines I would have never had them in our house.”

On the Buckyballs website they state: “Buckyballs & Buckycubes are for adults only and must be kept away from all children under the age of 14. Buckyballs & Buckycubes are dangerous for kids because swallowed magnets can stick to intestines causing serious injury or death. Magnets should not be put in the nose or mouth. Buckyballs should never be used as tongue or nose rings as they can be accidentally swallowed.”

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