DENVER, Colo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — One mother has a warning for other parents—watch out for magnets, whether it’s a toy, a chachkie stuck on your refrigerator, or part of an art project … Her little guy got a hold of just two of them and it almost cost him his life.
Izadore Lawyer is a feisty, chatty, happy three-year-old.
Not much keeps him down except one night a few months ago …
Alistair Lawyer, Izadore’s Mother, told Ivanhoe, “He was screaming.”
“With every minute that passed, his vomiting became much more intense,” she continued
When she saw blood in the bowl, she knew this wasn’t a typical toddler stomach bug.
“Absolutely, as a mom, one of the worst moments of my life”, Lawyer said.
She rushed him to the ER where an x-ray revealed Izzy had devoured two teeny, tiny magnets.
“We had a succulent garden we made,” she said.
One like this, made out of wine corks and magnets … But a few magnets fell on the floor. Nobody saw them … nobody but Izzy.
“Just in case you’re wondering if it’s in his back pocket, it’s not, because the sideways view you can see it’s still inside his belly,” Sarah Lai, pediatric surgeon at Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital, said.
“They got stuck in his intestines and then the two pieces of the intestine stuck together causing the obstruction,” Lai continued.
Tearing three holes in Izzy’s intestine and one in his colon.
“Looks like little bullet holes in his intestines,” Lawyer says.
Lai took out part of Izzy’s intestine and a small part of his colon. She says Izzy isn’t the first and magnets are not the only problem.
Button batteries produce electric currents that can burn the esophagus.
Safety pins, nails, and any objects larger than two centimeters in width and five centimeters in length can tear up the digestive track.
And laundry or dishwasher detergent pods are loaded with harsh chemicals that can cause respiratory arrest, seizures and comas.
“You violently want to protect your children. That’s ingrained in you as a mother,” she told Ivanhoe.
Izzy’s mom contacted the magnet manufactures and also amazon asking for them to add a warning to the packages, but so far, no response.
“I guess my message is just don’t buy them, it’s not worth it,” she advises.
Because families have enough to worry about without worrying about magnets.
Kazimiera Lawyer, Izzy’s sister, said “I was scared I didn’t know what to think about it. Izzy just ate the soap.”
While most objects that don’t cause symptoms will pass through the digestive tract in one or two days without causing harm … be aware, objects can also get caught in the esophagus. Symptoms include drooling, inability or painful swallowing, vomiting, chest pain or neck pain. If your child is experiencing any of these signs…get them to the hospital immediately.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Abrams Mari
Mari.Abrams@HealthONEcares.com
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Rusty Reed, Videographer and Roque Correa, Editor.
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