Parents warn of dangers of magnets in reusable water balloons
- An 8-year-old ended up in the ER after magnets ended up bonding in her nose
- Mom’s message to parents: “Get rid of them. There’s other, safer products”
- In 2021, about 2,500 magnet ingestions were treated in emergency rooms
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(NewsNation) — Amid the summer months, reusable water balloons seem environmentally friendly, but an Ohio mom is warning other parents about the hazards of the small magnets some of these refillable silicone balls are sealed with.
Kelley Whitty told NewsNation that her 8-year-old daughter, Leah, grabbed a towel to dry off after swimming, but several small magnets were lodged in the towel.
“She started screaming it was burning it was stinging,” Whitty recounted. “Initially, everyone thought a bee flew up her nose because we couldn’t see anything.”
Whitty took Leah to a local hospital, where she said doctors and nurses were at first “baffled” by what was causing Leah so much pain.
Doctors soon discovered six tiny magnets lodged inside Leah’s nose — four in one nostril and two in the other.
“They were either side of the cartilage in the nose,” explained physician assistant Megan Conover. “So they pulled together and they created compression on that cartilage, and the blood vessels that go through that cartilage got cut off.”
Leah’s trip to the ER was over in three hours.
“They really told us that as bad as this accident was we were actually very fortunate. Had these magnets somehow been ingested, we wouldn’t be sitting here today with the same outcome that we have.”
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were as many as 2,500 magnet ingestions that were treated in emergency rooms throughout the country in 2021.
Whitty first shared Leah’s story on Facebook in hopes of alerting other parents and caregivers to the potential dangers.
Her message for parents who are considering purchasing this product for their kids: “If you have these, get rid of them. There’s tons of other, safer products on the market. Magnets of this size should not be in kids’ toys. They actually are marketing these to babies, younger kids, and at that age group, all they do is put things in their mouth.”
Experts urge parents and caregivers to inspect new and old toys, stay vigilant and consider what a toddler might do with a toy, and if the toy is dangerous.
