A young boy was left fighting for his life after taking part in a dangerous social media challenge.
11-year-old Ellis Tripp from Worcester, UK, was forced to undergo grueling emergency surgery after ending up in a critical condition thanks to a deadly trend.
The dangerous stunt that has been making rounds on the internet involves toy magnets, whereas people pretend they have had their tongues pierced by placing one magnetic ball on each side of their tongue.
While the challenge may sound innocent, the small and slippery magnetic balls may be swallowed by mistake which can result in serious health complications.
During his attempt at the challenge, Ellis accidentally swallowed five ‘Magneto Balls’. A week later, after he started feeling sick, the 11-year-old was rushed to the hospital on the suspicion he had been suffering from a burst appendix.
As baffled doctors soon realized, however, nothing was wrong with Ellis’s appendix. Instead, they found a series of magnets after one of them got stuck to their tools.
After the doctors removed three of the magnets, Ellis had to undergo another procedure during which two more magnets were removed from his bowel.
While the boy’s life was saved by the doctors who operated on him, Ellis has reportedly been “seriously ill” even after the procedures.
“I’m in a nightmare. This TikTok craze could/would have killed him if left any longer. Please talk to your children and tell them how DANGEROUS THESE ARE,” Amy Clarke, Ellis’s mom, wrote in her Facebook post as she urged parents to get rid of magnets.
“Magneto Beads are deadly if swallowed. They even have them in educational/childcare settings for children to play with. DESTROY THEM…!!!!!”
Meanwhile, 50-year-old Sue Davies, Ellis’s grandmother, revealed that the doctors told the family they had to treat five young people who swallowed magnets in just one week.
To make the matters worse, teachers at the 11-year-old’s school discovered that several kids were in possession of similar magnetic toys during a search.
“He is seriously, seriously ill. Two major surgeries in just a few days isn’t good for anybody, let alone a child. I am absolutely gutted, it’s a very worrying time,” Sue said.
“It has been a truly horrific experience. We didn’t think this could have ever happened to us, these tiny magnetic balls have caused such damage.
“We don’t know where he got them from. His headteacher did a search and they found a lot of kids with them at school.”
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