‘I want them banned,’ says mother as one-year-old has stoma bag after swallowing tiny magnetic balls
The mother of a one-year-old is calling for tiny magnetic balls to be banned after her daughter has had to have part of her bladder removed and a stoma bag fitted after swallowing some.
Hannah Whateley, from Overstone, wants to raise awareness of the dangers of these toys to prevent other families from going through what her daughter Araya has experienced.
Hannah is also the mother to nine-year-old Isla, who innocently brought home some of the magnetic balls after trading toys with another child at school.
The family were completely unaware that Araya had got hold of any until she started throwing up on February 21, with similar symptoms to tonsilitis.
Araya was being treated for gastroenteritis after she was taken to A&E at Northampton General Hospital, and was admitted onto a ward in the early hours of the following morning.
After she finally took a feed and kept it down, the family were discharged but as soon as they reached the car, Araya began choking and vomiting. They ran back and were readmitted to the ward straight away.
The one-year-old’s vomiting continued to worsen and an x-ray immediately showed what the doctor described as “four beads or balls” – in which Hannah knew what they were straight away.
“I was panicking,” Hannah told the Chronicle & Echo. “We were urgently transferred to Leicester Infirmary on Sunday going into Monday, and she had surgery that morning. There were six magnets in total.”
The magnets had caused Araya’s intestine to close and it killed that part of her bowel, which was starving her.
There was another hole that needed repairing on the other side of the one-year-old’s intestine, which is attempting to be done using a stoma bag.
“The stoma bag isn’t working,” said Hannah. “Everything she is eating is coming out of her stoma and she is not taking anything in. Her output is higher than her input.
“I felt sick when I was told and guilt that I wasn’t aware. It was a freak accident and my heart just broke for her – it’s still breaking. Eating causes a considerable amount of pain and I’m scared to feed her because I know she’s in extreme pain.”
The stoma bag will remain for a minimum of a few months and the doctors currently think it is reversible, as there is a considerable amount of bowel left after the percentage they initially had to take.
Despite feeling “useless” as there is nothing she can do for Araya other than being by her side, Hannah wants to spread awareness and warn people from buying this product.
“You don’t realise the damage magnetic sculpting balls are capable of,” said Hannah. “The doctor said Araya’s very lucky and he’s seen worst case scenarios over the past decade. It can cause catastrophic damage.”
The family remain at Leicester Infirmary and the last update Hannah provided was that Araya was having a total parenteral nutrition (TPN) line fitted – which is a catheter that will deliver nutrition into her bloodstream as she has not been able to eat anything.