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: