Boy, 2, hospitalised after disturbing find in stomach
The mother of a two-year-old boy is warning other parents, after her son ended up in hospital when swallowing 16 magnetic balls found in a toy.
In May, Konin Arrington, 2, from the US state of Florida, was rushed to hospital after ingesting several magnets from a toy one of his older siblings had brought home from school.
Konin's mother Hannah threw away the toy, which CNN identified as a Buckycube, a magnetic desk toy, however she and her husband didn't know their son had already ingested the magnets.
A doctor's appointment was scheduled when Konin started experiencing abdominal pain, however it was decided it would be better to take him to the emergency room.
On the GoFundMe page set up by the family, it is explained Konin underwent surgeries and almost a metre of his small intestine was removed.
Ms Arrington told CNN Konin had swallowed 16 magnets, which had all linked together in his intestines, subsequently making a hole from his stomach to his colon.
“As he ate them, they went down into his digestive tract, and then each time he would find another one somewhere in the house and swallow it, it would click together and it perforated a hole through his stomach all the way down into his colon area,” Ms Arrington told WESH.
It has all been uphill for the two-year-old since the surgeries.
"His recovery has been difficult as he has lost over 30 per cent of his body weight due to Small Bowel Syndrome and an infection post surgery," the GoFundMe says.
He was again admitted to hospital on June 9 and given a feeding tube.
Ms Arrington and her husband Kev have four other children at home, she is not working due to Konin's condition and Mr Arrington is caring for the other children.
"This has been a long and heartbreaking road as we take this day by day," the family explained.
"With the added stress of bills needing to be paid we reluctantly made this go fund me at the request of family to help lessen the burdens we are currently facing."
His family have given regular updates on the GoFundMe page. In the most recent update, Ms Arrington said Konin was stable, though doctors are still trying to pinpoint a few issues.
Now, Ms Arrington is warning other parents about the dangers of toys like the one Konin's sibling brought home from school, especially since there has been a trend on social media with kids swallow magnets.
"We as parents want to get that out there to other parents and even kids who are thinking it will be a fun challenge, nothing will happen," she told CNN.
"You can die from it, you can have lifelong issues from it because look where we are."
You can donate to the GoFundMe here.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
