A Houston, Texas, toddler was hospitalized after swallowing nine magnets.
According to ABC 13, 2-year-old Ava Kendall was able to reach a group of magnets off of the refrigerator that her father received as a gift while in Sweden as an exchange student. The small, silver magnets — which could be fashioned into different shapes — resembled cake decorations.
Kendall swallowed nine of them.
Her family has started a GoFundMe page for her medical bills, Her post is as follows:
Lexi Kendall:
In case anyone who is not familiar with what is happening, I would like to share Ava’s story. It is not commonly known or talked about, but the result of swallowing magnets– ANY magnet — can be lethal, even if just two are swallowed. The 9 that Ava decided to swallow were the Buckee balls. Because the pull of the magnet is so strong, when swallowed (specifically referring to swallowing separately), they find each other in the digestive tract. In my daughter, they made their way into the small intestine. The magnets essentially come together, pinching everything in between them. Their force is so strong that they begin to bury themselves into the intestine, creating holes and inflammation. The inflammation can cause bile back up, which then becomes infected. The magnets must be removed before rupturing the intestine, or else it will almost positively be lethal. Ava was extremely close. The biggest thing to consider regarding this is that it is so commonly overlooked. She was tested for flu and strep, and even had a chest x-Ray to check for pneumonia. When everything came back negative, the doctors wrote it off as a stomach flu, and gave her some anti nausea medication (which did not stop the vomiting or the constant excruciating pain she was in). I could tell when we got home that everything was still not okay. My gut told me to take her to the ER and INSIST on getting answers. After being evaluated, the doctors decided to to a CT scan where the magnets were found. I recognized them as the magnets Ian kept on his desk immediately. If I had not brought my daughter to the ER when I did, her intestine would have ruptured, causing a lethal infection to spread through her entire body. Any magnet poses this threat, at any age. From what doctors have told me, even teenagers will have this happen, as they will put a magnet on their tongue to look like a tongue ring, and swallow them accidentally. After surgery, my baby girl was sent to the ICU, where she has struggled since Christmas Eve to get control of her fever, infection, heart rate, and oxygen levels. Twice she has stopped breathing. She is on a machine that breathes for her, and has been sedated for two days now. While my baby recovers, my husband is out of work to stay with her, and support me and our breastfed 5 month old son (which means he can’t leave me and must stay at the hospital with us.) Prayers are so greatly appreciated, and if you feel the need to do anything more, any donation of any size is so helpful, as we try to get through this difficult time.