The boy bought the magnets from the online shopping platform ‘Timo’, which required doctors to cut out part of his intestines to remove them.
Doctors said on Friday that a 13-year-old boy in New Zealand swallowed about 100 powerful magnets purchased online, which required doctors to cut out part of his intestines to remove them.
The boy bought the magnets from the online shopping platform ‘Timo’.
The boy was taken to Tauranga Hospital on the North Island after four days of stomach pain. According to the hospital report published in the New Zealand Medical Journal: ‘The boy said he had swallowed about 80 to 100 magnets, which were five by two millimeters in size and were powerful neodymium magnets.’
These magnets have been banned in New Zealand since January 2013, but they were purchased from Timo. X-rays showed that the magnets were connected in four straight rows in the boy’s intestines.
According to the medical report: ‘They were in different parts of the intestines that stuck together due to magnetic force.’
According to doctors, the pressure from the magnets caused tissue to die in four different places in the boy’s small intestine and part of the large intestine. Surgeons operated and removed the dead part of the intestine and the magnets.
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The date of the boy’s operation was not given, but he was able to return home after eight days in hospital.
The report’s authors, Binora Lekamalaj, Lucinda Duncan Ware and Nicola Davis, wrote: “This case highlights not only the dangers of swallowing magnets but also the dangers of online shopping, especially for children.”
Doctors say that surgery after swallowing magnets can lead to future problems such as intestinal obstruction, abdominal hernia or chronic pain.
Timo, on the other hand, said he was saddened to hear about the boy’s surgery. A spokesman for Timo said: “We have launched an internal investigation and have contacted the authors of the New Zealand Medical Journal for more details.”
Timo says it is investigating the sale of magnets to ensure they comply with New Zealand safety regulations.
According to the spokesperson: “We are currently unable to confirm whether these magnets were actually purchased from Timo and which specific product list they were part of, however our teams are reviewing all relevant products to ensure full compliance with local safety regulations.”
The China-based e-commerce company Timo has come under fire in several markets, including the European Union, for not taking adequate steps to remove illegal products from its platform.
