A schoolboy almost died after swallowing ball bearings as part of a 'new craze' to hit playgrounds.
Twelve-year-old Freddie Webster from Yorkshire had to undergo emergency surgery after the tiny balls ripped a hole in the lining of his stomach. Surgeons had to removed 10cm of his bowel in a four-and-a-half-hour operation.
Freddie had swallowed the magnetic 3mm balls after putting one inside his mouth and another against his cheek - to test its magnetic ability - the magnets, although tiny, are pretty powerful and are attracted to each other through the skin.
Having accidentally swallowed a pair of the magnets, the schoolboy then swallowed a second pair five hours later. But once in his stomach, the powerful attraction between the ball bearings caused them to rip through his stomach, leaving Freddie with extensive damage to his small bowel.
His mum, Sarah, said: "Freddie had swallowed the first two magnets at school on the Tuesday, and although I didn't know at the time, he then swallowed two more later that day.
"He told me on the Wednesday that he had swallowed two magnets and at that time I thought they would just pass.
"On the Wednesday night he started with stomach ache, but by the Friday morning he told me that the stomach ache wouldn't go away and he said it had kept him awake the night before.
"I rang the doctors on the Friday morning and I told them about swallowing the magnets. They asked how many he had swallowed, which is when Freddie told me it was four."
She was advised to take Freddie straight to A&E at Hull Royal Infirmity, where an x-ray showed the four magnets. Here she was told by paediatric consultant Marcin Kazmierski that Freddie was the fourth boy of a similar age to be admitted to hospital since November.
As the ball bearings still had passed through, doctors decided to operate.
"After four-and-a-half hours Mr Kazmierski came out and said that Freddie was stable but very poorly and told us that the next 24 hours would be critical," Sarah said.
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"He said as a medical professional he could not believe that he had not been in more pain. When I saw him in recovery he was wired up to drips and Freddie moved his oxygen mask and the first thing he said was 'what about skiing', because he was due to go on a skiing trip with school in March!"
Sarah thanked the hospital for their care, and let the school know about the 'craze', but is speaking out now to make other parents aware.
She said: "I feel I am a fairly astute mum but I had no idea what damage these magnets could do. I thought they would just pass if you swallowed them. I want to warn other parents who don't know about them and make people aware of the dangers they can cause.
"I believe they should definitely be banned as they had been in America. These magnets are extra powerful and come in different colours and clearly kids are going to be attracted to them."
Freddie, who is now out of hospital after an eight-day stay but will have to monitor changes to his bowel for the rest of his life, agrees.
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He said: "I think these magnets should be banned in every country. I know a lot of people who have them and they put them in their mouths, noses and even in their eyelids. I was really worried about the other children in school and if any of them may have swallowed any."
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