Young Girl with Special Needs Swallows Magnetic Fidget Toy That 'Ripped' Through Her Intestines

"Bella was in no pain — we wouldn't have noticed if she didn't tell me," Ria-Willis Bignell said of the scary incident

NEED TO KNOW

• Bella Woodall, 12, required emergency surgery after swallowing a magnetic fidget toy that caused severe internal damage
• Her mother, Ria-Willis Bignell, wanted to share her daughter’s medical crisis to warn other parents
• Doctors say swallowing magnets can be life-threatening as they can tear through organs when attracted to each other

A young girl needed emergency surgery after swallowing a magnetic fidget toy that "ripped" through her intestine and appendix.

Bella Woodall, 12, who has autism and ADHD, plays with magnetic fidget toys to help her manage her sensory challenges, her mother, Ria-Willis Bignell, told Kennedy News and Media. 

"Bella used to play with them once a month because she had a different selection of fidgets in the box. When she needs calming down she will fidget with these things," Bignell, 34, said of the magnets, which she purchased online on Feb. 19.

Bignell, a special education teaching assistant from the English town of Watford, said Bella admitted to putting the small magnetic balls in her mouth. "Kids [with special needs] can put a lot of things in their mouth and that's what she did, she came in and had the nervous giggles," Bignell explained. "She was scatty, she said 'I've swallowed them.' "

"Bella was in no pain. We wouldn't have noticed if she didn't tell me," Bignell explains.

Bignell rushed her daughter to the emergency room, where an X-ray confirmed that Bella had, indeed, swallowed two of the magnets. 

"They attract, because they're magnets, and they ripped through her appendix, separated again and ripped through her bowel. She had her appendix and part of her bowel cut out. It's very serious. When the doctors were telling me I was in tears, because you don't know the damage it's caused inside."

Doctors informed the family "it can cause death," Bignell said. "This is how serious it is to swallow these magnets. Because they are so small they are more dangerous. It was so scary to hear that. I broke down."

Given the wide availability of small fidget toys — especially ones with magnets — that are marketed to kids with special needs, Bignell says she felt compelled to share her daughter's experience to warn other families.

"If you have non-verbal children, you're not going to know," she says. "Don't give those things to children. My daughter was able to tell me but my son is two, he wouldn't be able to tell me. You can't watch them all the time."

"It's crazy how many children have these things. It didn't have a warning on the box," she said. "They just come in a clear bag, so you obviously don't know. I'm not buying her magnets ever again."

Read the full article here