A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand was hospitalized after swallowing a large number of high-power magnets, requiring major surgery to remove them and damaged sections of his intestines. The case highlights how small, powerful magnets bought cheaply online can create severe internal injuries when multiple pieces find their way into a child’s digestive tract. Medical teams discovered several chains of magnets inside his abdomen and moved quickly to operate, with the patient discharged after about a week.
The boy endured stomach pain for four days before seeking treatment at Tauranga Hospital, where imaging revealed the scale of the problem. Doctors identified four chains of magnets stuck together inside his gut, a configuration that can pinch and perforate tissue between magnetic segments. The magnets were reported to be around 5×2 millimeters each, and estimates suggest as many as 80 to 100 pieces were involved.
Surgeons removed the magnets and excised damaged portions of the intestines to prevent further infection and complications. The operation itself posed risks and the child required close monitoring in the days that followed. He was released from hospital eight days later, but cases like this can leave lasting effects and often need follow-up care to watch for long-term problems.
Medical experts warn that swallowing multiple high-strength magnets is uniquely dangerous because they can clamp together across loops of bowel. That pressure can cause tissue death, perforations, and fistulas, turning what might look like a harmless toy into a surgical emergency. Even when surgery fixes the immediate damage, patients can face adhesions, bowel obstruction, or other complications that affect quality of life later on.
“Accessibility to high-power magnets is a rising concern for our pediatric population, which may be due to the ability to purchase from online marketplaces at inexpensive prices,” the report states. That observation points to a broader problem: these items are often inexpensive, small, and sold through platforms that do not always enforce safety rules strictly. For families and caregivers, the combination of low cost and wide availability can make dangerous products easy to overlook until something goes wrong.
New Zealand and Australia have moved to ban the sale of small, high-powered magnets because of the clear hazard they pose to children. Despite bans, enforcing restrictions in the online marketplace is difficult, and products can still cross borders or be sold through third-party sellers. Regulators and health professionals say stronger controls and better enforcement are needed to stop these items from reaching households where young children are present.
In this instance, the magnets were reportedly purchased from online marketplace Temu, according to the report. A company spokesperson said it is investigating and has reached out to the report’s authors for more information. “We are sorry to learn about the reported incident and wish the boy a full and speedy recovery,” the Temu spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email. “We take product safety very seriously and continuously monitor our platform to ensure sellers are complying with the safety regulations of the markets they are doing business in.”
Temu has not been able to identify the specific product listing or confirm whether the magnets were purchased from its online marketplace, according to the spokesperson. “Nonetheless, our teams are reviewing relevant listings to ensure full compliance with local safety requirements,” the spokesperson said. The company added that any products found to be non-compliant would be removed and that they would take action against sellers who breach platform rules.
Healthcare providers say prevention comes down to awareness, safer purchasing rules, and supervision. Parents and caregivers should treat sets of small, powerful magnets like other choking or ingestion hazards and keep them well out of reach of children. Retailers and marketplaces have a role to play by ensuring dangerous items are labeled correctly, restricted from sale where banned, and removed when they fail to meet safety standards.
Clinicians recommend seeking immediate medical attention if a child is suspected of swallowing magnets, especially more than one. Early imaging and prompt intervention can reduce the scale of damage, but time is critical when magnets are present because of the way they interact inside the body. Public health messaging that highlights the specific danger of multiple magnets aims to reduce these preventable surgical emergencies and keep children safer at home.
