Both the children were saved after a 48-hour long surgery.
Faridabad: The lives of a 3-year-old boy and his 4-year-old sister were in serious danger after they accidentally swallowed several tiny magnets while playing with building blocks in a shocking incidents from Faridabad.
The parents were completely unaware of the situation until the children’s health deteriorated. The younger child, identified as Pragyan (3), was rushed to the hospital after he began vomiting continuously and complaining of severe abdominal pain. Soon after, his elder sister Hitanshi (4) developed similar symptoms and was also admitted.
According to doctors at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, scans revealed that both children had multiple magnets lodged in their intestines. Pragyan had swallowed 10 magnets, which got stuck together inside, causing eight perforations in his intestines and severely damaging his duodenum (the first part of the small intestine).
Meanwhile, Hitanshi was found to have six magnets inside her abdomen. The magnets had punctured holes in her intestinal cavity and destroyed surrounding tissues. Doctors carried out two critical surgeries within 48 hours to save the siblings’ lives.
Dr. Nitin Jain, Senior Consultant of Pediatric Surgery at Amrita Hospital, explained the severity of the case:
“Children often swallow coins or buttons, which usually cause only blockages. But magnets are far more dangerous. A single magnet may pass harmlessly through the digestive system, but when multiple magnets are ingested, they can attract each other through different loops of the intestine. This traps tissues in between, cuts off blood supply, and rapidly causes perforations, necrosis, life-threatening infections, and sepsis.”
The children’s parents shared, “We had purchased these toys online from a well-known brand, believing they were safe. We never imagined they would bring us so close to losing both our children.”
