Boy, 9, Nearly Dies After Swallowing Magnets for TikTok Challenge
A 9-year-old boy nearly died in hospital, his mother has warned, after he swallowed magnets while attempting to follow a TikTok challenge.
Jack McGeoch who lives in Borestone, Scotland, was admitted to hospital on September 7 with abdominal pain and vomiting.
His mother Carolann McGeoch has shared his story in a bid to prevent others from the same ordeal.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, she explained that when the child had an ultrasound the next day it revealed "something was blocking his bowel."
She added that "after a bit of probing to get the truth, Jack admitted that he had swallowed these," alongside a picture of magnetic balls and of her son in hospital.
Her "funny, outgoing, healthy" child was put forward to have emergency surgery and McGeoch was told "that the damage these magnets can cause could be so extreme that he might not pull through. "
She said that as result of copying TikTok videos "encouraging kids to do tricks with these [magnets]" her son has "lost his appendix, his small bowel and 30cm of his large bowel."
Although it is not known exactly which video the young boy attempted, the post explained it was "all due to a TikTok challenge."
There is a recent trend on the app that involves placing magnetic balls either side of your tongue to so it looks as though you have a tongue piercing.
Explaining her reason for sharing the story, she wrote: "Jack is lucky to be alive, but if his experience can prevent other kids from enduring the same then I will do everything I can to get the word out there."
McGeoch said that five days after the operation "Jack is still solely on fluids, unable to walk unaided and all round not the wee boy he was a week ago.
"The surgeons are fighting tooth and nail to have these magnets banned for the damage they can do."
McGeoch ended her post by asking the school to "arrange an assembly for all children to highlight the dangers of these magnets.
"There are videos across social media encouraging kids to do tricks with these but what the videos fail to mention is that ultimately those tiny wee magnets could kill. Very easily.
"I hope this is something which will be taken on board and actioned quickly. Jack's life has changed forever, let's stop others from having to go through the same."
Web.md report the danger of ingesting magnets, explaining: "Unlike foreign bodies that can pass through the body with relatively little trouble, magnets can seriously damage the stomach or intestine by attracting each other through the lining of different loops of intestine.
"Ultimately, the magnets could cause a lack of blood flow in the lining and puncture the lining of the intestine."
A spokesperson for TikTok told Newsweek: "We do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies behavior that might lead to injury. Our safety team use a range of measures to keep our community safe, and we have been conducting additional proactive searches to detect content of this nature.
"While we have not yet found evidence that this is a trend, we will continue to stay vigilant and take action when necessary."
