Warning after 300 children taken to A&E in one year after swallowing magnets
19 May 2025, 09:36 | Updated: 19 May 2025, 10:08
Around 300 children are hospitalised every year after swallowing magnets, new data has revealed.
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Around 300 children were rushed to A&E in a year after swallowing magnets, new data has revealed.
One in ten needed life-saving surgery, while doctors warn toddlers are being ‘scarred for life’.
Around 300 under-16s were rushed to an emergency room in a one year after ingesting magnets found in items such as ‘fidget toys’.
The research was carried out by experts at the University of Southampton, who produced the first UK study investigating how many children have swallowed magnets.
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Doctors and safety campaigners are calling for a crackdown on online sales of products containing magnets as youngsters are being put at risk by popular toys containing the metal items.
One mother has spoken out against toys with magnets in them, having seen her two-year-old daughter fight for her life in 2021 after swallowing magnetic balls from a toy.
Sam McCarthy, of Basildon, Essex, said: “I would hate for any other child to go through what Becca suffered because of buying dangerous toys from sellers on online marketplaces.”
Ms McCarthy is backing a campaign by the Child Accident Prevention Trust alerting parents not to buy toys with magnets in them.
Reports of social media trends driving hospitalisations have also been heard, with Rhys Millum, 8, having died from a 'fake piercing challenge'.
The online trend challenges users to put magnets on the outside and inside of their cheeks and tongue.
His mother, Andrea Boyd, said during a misadventure conclusion at Northallerton Coroner's Court: "I do note [the police] found a video of him playing with his brother, showing Rhys was a least aware of the concept of social media challenges and would have had had access to social media platforms like YouTube and may have seen people using magnets in this way.
'This was a wholly tragic series of events. Rhys did not understand the dangers of swallowing these magnets and did not tell anyone he had swallowed them or link them to his symptoms."
She added that these magnetic balls are "legal to sell" but hopes her son's death highlights the dangers of these.
