A terrified mum has issued a warning to other parents after her teen daughter accidentally swallowed magnets while taking part in a viral TikTok craze. Kelly Sheldon says daughter Tia could be left with internal organ damage following the "frightening" ordeal.
While at school, the 14-year-old decided to try out the social media trend and stuck two magnetic balls together around her tongue. The colourful metallic orbs are supposed to create the illusion of a piercing, with children also fixing them to their mouths, lips and noses as a part of the online craze.
However, the schoolgirl forgot the magnets were still on her tongue when she took a drink of water, causing her to swallow them. On the advice of NHS call handlers, Tia was rushed to hospital, where an X-ray revealing that the magnets had stuck together in her lower chest area.
Doctors told her concerned mum that they would hopefully pass out of her system naturally with time, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports. However, they also told Kelly that if the magnets did separate, they could go on to “pierce” her organs, leaving the mum very "concerned" for her daughter’s health.
The mum-of-five said: “I don’t want any child or mother going through what I have this week. If the two balls separated, and one travels further than the other but finds a connection again while it’s away, it could pull the organs together and squish them. And that could easily pierce the intestine or cause a blockage. It’s very frightening.”
The 33-year-old said she would now join with NHS bosses in calling for a full ban on the “creative toys”. She added: “I don’t think any child of any age should have a magnet. I don’t think there’s any reason for them, I just think it’s a bad idea full stop.”
Full-time carer Kelly said Tia and her other siblings had been banned from TikTok while at home. So she was amazed to find out that her daughter had taken part in the viral trend while at school last Wednesday, after getting the magnets off a pal.
She said: “This kid had given her these magnets, and because she’s heard or seen this TikTok trend previously, Tia thought she’d try it. She’s put a silver one on the top of her tongue, and a silver one underneath her tongue, and it clamps to the tongue then and looks like a piercing.
“She’s been walking from one lesson to the other, and without thinking, she’s had a drink of water, and it’s literally just washed down. When the school rang me, I thought she’d swallowed a magnet in a maths or science lesson that morning. So I got to the school as soon as I could, and it was when I got there that I was given these magnets and told what happened."
Kelly said staff had been advised by 111 call handlers that Tia would need immediate medical attention, so she took her to a hospital where she had body scans. She said: “We went and got an X-ray eventually, and they were in her lower chest area, touching.
“They said as they were touching, she was safe to go home. But we had to return for another X-ray the next day, in case she needed surgery. That again showed they were still in her lower chest area, but instead of upright, they were more on the side slightly.”
Kelly said the hospital had notified her of some symptoms that might indicate a worrying development in Tia’s health. But she said the youngster still wasn’t certain if the tiny balls had left her body, adding that she would only relax once she knew they had gone.
She said: “Obviously they’re quite small, little silver magnets, so to see them come out isn’t easy. But she hasn’t reported to me or her dad that she’s seen them pass yet.
"So I think if she hasn’t seen them, and they haven’t passed, I’m just going to have to take her back. I’m more than concerned, and I won’t relax for a fact until I know they’re no longer in there. “
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
