Baby almost dies and has part of bowel removed after swallowing toy magnets
A baby underwent a horror seven-hour surgery to remove her bowel after swallowing toy magnetic balls.
One-year-old Araya Whateley almost died and now has a stoma bag after she gulped down six metal balls from a children’s toy.
The metallic beads had come from her nine-year-old sister Isla, who had received them in a ‘school swapsie’.
They had been left on the back seat of the family car when little Araya unknowingly started ingesting them.
Mum Hannah, 29, had no idea anything was wrong until Araya started throwing up on February 21.
After initially being treated for gastroenteritis at Northampton General Hospital, she was rushed back to A&E when she started chocking in a hospital car park.
That is when doctors discovered the metallic balls clumped together in the baby’s stomach.
Hannah said: ‘I was panicking. We were urgently transferred to Leicester Infirmary and she had surgery that morning.
‘There were six magnets in total which were stuck together in a clump.
‘I felt sick when I was told and guilt that I wasn’t aware.
‘It was a freak accident and my heart just broke for her – it’s still breaking.
‘The doctor said Araya’s very lucky and he’s seen worst case scenarios over the past decade.’
The magnets had caused Araya’s intestine to close, killing one part of her bowel and starving her.
Another hole on the other side of her intestine also needed repairing, with doctors using a stoma bag to achieve this.
The one-year-old was under the knife for seven hours as part of her bowel and bladder were removed and a stoma bag attached.
Medics hope the stoma bag will remain for only few months, but it currently is not functioning as intended.
Her mum, who is a care worker, added: ‘At the moment the stoma bag isn’t working.
‘Everything she is eating is coming out of her stoma and she is not taking anything in.
‘Eating causes a considerable amount of pain and I’m scared to feed her because I know she’s in extreme pain.’
Because she has not been able to eat anything, Araya is now due to have a total parenteral nutrition (TPN) line fitted.
A TPN catheter that will deliver nutrition into her bloodstream.
In the wake of the ordeal, Hannah is now campaigning for a sales ban on the type of metallic ball which hospitalised Araya.
She added: ‘I don’t want anyone to go through this, it is every parent’s worst nightmare.
‘These awful things need to be banned immediately before any other children are hospitalised.
‘You don’t realise the damage magnetic sculpting balls are capable of.
‘It can cause catastrophic damage.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.