A Colorado family’s life was turned upside down and thrown into a spiral of chaos once their 2-year-old daughter began complaining about extreme pain that she was suffering from in her lower abdominal region. Sadly, things turn an even terrifying turn once they rushed her to a doctor who immediately ordered an x-ray – and that’s the young toddler’s parents were left horrified by what they learned was inside of their little girl.
Kyle and Elizabeth McBrien are the two happy parents of sweet little 2-year-old Ella. Of course, as many adults realize, being a parent isn’t an easy task. The responsibility comes with many challenges, as well as stresses, trials, and tribulations.
In fact, this small family would learn just that most recently after their little girl started to complain about a pain in her belly. Doing as any good parent would, the duo took their daughter to the doctor to have things checked out before being ordered to have an x-ray done to figure out the source of Ella’s agony.
Much to their surprise, there were several small spherical objects in the girl’s bowel that had arranged themselves in the shape of a circle. Come to find out, they were actually high-power magnets made by a company called Buckyballs that were meant to be a toy.
Kyle later explained that their daughter has a habit – like so many other kids her age – of putting things in her mouth. Although she was playing with the magnets while supervised, things took a turn when Ella’s father stepped away to go to the bathroom.
During the short time that he was using the restroom, Ella managed to down a whopping 28 magnets without anyone noticing. Fortunately, doctors were able to successfully remove the magnets – and it’s a good thing, too. They were starting to pinch her organ to the point that a hole was forming.
Although they were unsuccessful in their first attempt, medical professionals were able to employ the use of a specialized endoscope, meaning that Ella didn’t need major surgery to save her life. As for her parents, they just want to use their story to warn others of the hazard that comes along with the toy – but things haven’t gone according to plan.
As it turns out, just about every reader has been asking the same question: “Why did these parents let a 2-year-old play with this toy in the first place?” Making matters worse, Buckyballs magnets were banned back in 2013 after a bunch of other children did the same thing.
After agreeing to market their product to adults and even putting a label on the box, as seen in the images above, saying the magnets were not meant for children, the courts reversed the U.S. Consumer and Product Safety Commission’s order in 2016. So, if you know that your child likes to put things in her mouth and these toys aren’t meant for kids, why would you allow your child to play with them at all, supervised or otherwise?
It’s never fun to blame the parents, especially when they’ve shown such concern, but as adults, it’s our job to ensure that our children are safe. Sure, things happen, but when something totally avoidable like this takes place, there’s really only two people at fault – and Ella isn’t one of them.
