Magnets create holes in child's intestine

DENVER - His parents didn't see it happen. Doctors believe he swallowed them one at a time. Five small magnets, lined up in Tegan Leisy's small intestine, could have cost him his life.

That's the thing about 3-year-olds. Everything goes in their mouth; toys, food, shoelaces, you name it. One of Tegan Leisy's favorite toys was a set of building sticks held together by magnets.

His parents didn't realize the toy set had been recalled because too many children ended up swallowing the magnets. They know now and they know how something as simple as a magnet can become deadly.

It all started when Tegan became fussy and didn't feel much like eating. He vomited and his family took him to the doctor. They tried the usual things, but after two days when the toddler wasn't getting any better, doctors took an X-ray of his belly.

It really didn't look right.

There, in the right hand area of his small intestines, doctors saw a bright white mass. Only one thing looks like that on X-ray; metal.

"At first it looked like a bolt or piece of metal," said Tate Leisy, the boy's father.

Doctors hoped it might pass, but the boy's symptoms became worse and they knew they had to operate.

When surgeons opened up the boy, they quickly saw at least 11 holes (perforations) in his intestines around the magnets. Doctors theorize the magnets may have pulled together so tightly, they pinched intestinal tissue between them. The severe inflammation and pressure may have caused that tissue to die, creating holes that invite life-threatening infection.

The solution was to remove six inches of the toddler's small intestine and sew the healthy ends back together.

This is the same process that happened to a 20-month old boy who died from swallowing these magnets. His tragic case and the near misses of several other children are included in the safety recall of all magnetic building sets.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission knows about at least 34 such cases, and issued a recall on the magnetic sets in March of last year. (click here for recall info) The Leisy's knew nothing about the recall, and in fact, their 5-year-old boy was playing with the magnets too.

"This is a dangerous toy. It's been recalled and we didn't know anything about it, plenty of other parents out there probably haven't heard it'd been recalled either. That's why we wanted to come forward and say something about it," said Tate Leisy.

Tegan is back to playing, but not eating quite yet. His intestines had completely shut down, so an IV is carrying all his nutrition and fluids at this point. The towheaded toddler is seemingly unaware of how very close he came to becoming another safety statistic for a toy that's been recalled.

"He's a lucky kid, lucky that somebody definitely was watching over him," said his dad.