Buckyballs Magnet Scare: 3-Year-Old Nearly Dies after Swallowing 37 ‘Buckyballs’ Magnets [Video]
A 3-year-old girl in Portland, Oregon is recovering after undergoing surgery to remove 37 ‘Buckyballs’ magnets she had swallowed.
Oregon’s KPTV reported Payton Bushnell had complained to her parents about stomach pain. At first, Aaron and Kelli Bushnell thought it was a stomach ache. But her symptoms kept up, and an X-ray at Children’s Hospital on the weekend revealed a circular grouping of magnets.
According to her parents, Payton had swallowed the Buckyballs one by one, and the magnetic force had caused all 37 magnets to merge inside her belly.
“By taking the x-ray, they saw that the circle had formed,” said Kelli. “They thought she swallowed a bracelet.”
The buckyballs – advertised as “powerful rare earth magnets” and marketed for adults as stress relievers – were so strong, they tore a hole in Payton’s lower intestine and in her stomach.
“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,” Mrs Bushnell added.
In response to the rise in accidental ingestions, Craig Zucker, CEO of Maxfield and Oberton, which manufactures Buckyballs, addressed Payton’s accident in a release:
“This unfortunate incident underscores the fact that Buckyballs and Buckycubes are for adults,” Zucker said via the company’s website Tuesday. “They are not toys and are not intended for children. We urge all consumers to read and comply with the warnings we place on all our products, on our website and in stores. Please keep these products out of the hands and reach of all children.”
Doctors say 3-year-old Payton Bushnell is expected to make a full recovery.
For more on the Bushnell family’s scary Buckyballs magnet incident, watch the following video Portland’s local 12 news:
Tags : buckyballs, Buckyballs Magnet, buckyballs magnets, infant swallows buckyballs, Payton Bushnell, Payton Bushnell Buckyball incident, Payton Bushnell buckyballs, Payton Bushnell oregon, toddler swallows buckyballs
Posted: March 6, 2012
![Kate Upton Declines Prom Request, Nina Agdal Accepts [Video]](http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Kate-Upton-Nina-Agdal-100x100.jpg)
![Pauly D Shows Off His New Hair, Twitter Weighs In [Photo]](http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Pauly-D-New-Hair-100x100.jpg)
Mar 6, 2012
How unsupervised was she to actually take the time to individually swallow 37 of those! One by one! 37 Magnets!
Mar 6, 2012
Her parents actually had the nerve to say" if I had know how dangerous they were ".Are they adults who can't read? If so then they can say that if not grow up and read the dang instructions.
Mar 6, 2012
How is this not considered child neglect?
Mar 6, 2012
Her parents will probably sue, even thought THEY are the ones responsible. I hope this little girl will be okay and that her parents will be watch her more carefully. By the way, how did they know she ate them "one by one?"
Mar 6, 2012
What in the world were the parents doing while the child was eating 37 of these magnets one by one????? Keep a better eye on your kids please people! I could see the little girl getting by with eating one or two, but 37 really? Poor baby! The parents should be ashamed, but thank God for a quick recovery!
Mar 6, 2012
37 magnets? 37 magnets? Complete bull$^*%! Most people don't know how to be parents anymore, they don't read any warning labels and they don't supervise their children, thinking that the TV will keep them occupied. Wake up Parents! Start paying more attention to your children!
Mar 6, 2012
I was unaware that a label was needed to specify that SWALLOWING MAGNETS would be bad… Had you known? So then you thought it would be ok..bc there was no label? WTF! Morons…
Mar 6, 2012
these parents are a joke. what the hell were these unreliable, slimy, terrible, unprotective, just such bad parents, doing while this beautiful child was swallowing all of these magnets? I sure woudnt do that when I have a child, and I am 13!
Mar 6, 2012
Just saw the news video…they allowed her to play with Battleship pieces after what had just happenend to her? IDIOTS! Did they not learn anything? Small pieces from games or magnets…BAD! Boy, do they deserve parents of the year…(Complete Idiotic Parents).
Mar 6, 2012
Don't say that because sometimes you'd be surprised what kids can do in a short span of time. That being said, they shouldn't have even been in her reach knowing that they are swallowable objects. Nothing that you even THINK your child can get in their mouth should even be within their reach.
Mar 6, 2012
What 3 year old swallows 37 of ANYTHING and why was no one watching her? You cannot leave a 3 year old alone for one single second.
Mar 7, 2012
Buckyballs aren't dangerous… NEGLIGENT parents and UNSUPERVISED children are! People need to take responsibility for themselves and their children. Blame yourselves, not the company, and sure as hell not the Buckeyballs!
Mar 7, 2012
Why were they down in her reach? It's the parents fault not the products.
Mar 7, 2012
nice, so they let her play with little pegs for the camera? good parenting
Mar 7, 2012
i said the same thing I guess they didnt learn
Mar 7, 2012
I agree!! why were they in her reach? And how long was she unsupervised to swallow that many?
Mar 7, 2012
In tomorrows news. The same girl swallows 50 battleship pegs!
Mar 7, 2012
Really 37 magnets! How can that Father say If I had known they were that dangerous I wouldn't have had them in the house….Really? How can you not know they were dangerous? They could have traveled to her intestine and then clumped together and she could have lost part of that or even worse died. Parents can be so dumb sometimes.
Mar 7, 2012
Looks like Mom and Dad need to be on "trial" here too.. But of course they will blame the manufacturer for the whole thing and claim there wasn't a good enough warning..
Mar 7, 2012
Wouldn't these little round balls have the same safety equavalence as pills……really parents…you didn't know?
Mar 7, 2012
Wouldn't these little round balls have the same safety equavalence as say pills……really parents…you didn't know?
The statistics show an increase in this in 2011, hy aren't people thinking?
Mar 7, 2012
So, while recovering from surgery removing the magnets that the little girl thought were candy, her parents let her play with toys that resemble the tiny marshmallows that you put in hot chocolate? WOW!
Mar 7, 2012
fuckin' buckyballs.. how do they work?