Doctors’ shock find during boy’s operation

Ellis Tripp, 11, remains in a critical condition after five tiny magnetic balls were discovered in his intestines and bowel, The Sun reports.

It is feared the boy, from Worcester, UK, may have been performing a dangerous TikTok craze which sees youngsters pretend to have their tongue pierced.

His mother, Amy Clarke, posted a heartfelt plea urging other parents to get rid of the balls describing what had happened to her son as a “nightmare”.

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“This TikTok craze could/would have killed him if left any longer,” the 31-year-old wrote on Facebook. “Please talk to your children and tell them how DANGEROUS THESE ARE.

“Magneto Beads are deadly if swallowed. They even have them in educational/childcare settings for children to play with. DESTROY THEM!”

Sue Davies, Ellis’s grandmother, said surgeons are concerned after he was the fifth youngster in just a week they have treated for swallowing magnets.

She added that teachers at Ellis’s school had found the youngsters with the magnets in their possession during a search.

The magnets continue to work even once inside the body and can stick to each other through loops of gastrointestinal tract, potentially causing bowel perforation or intestinal blockage.

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‘Horrific experience’

Ellis was very unwell for a week before he was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Wednesday when doctors thought he might have been suffering from a burst appendix.

But during surgery they were shocked to discover his appendix was fine – and then a magnet attached to their operating tools while they probed the cause of his pain.

He endured another gruelling six-hour operation yesterday when surgeons had to take out five inches of his bowel to remove the last two magnets.

The viral prank sees people place two magnetic balls on either side of their tongue and wiggle it around, creating an optical illusion that their piercing is stationary.

Grandmother Sue, 50, said Ellis was today “hooked up to tubes and wires” as his body tries to fight the infection caused by his bowel leaking.

She added: “He is seriously, seriously ill.

“Things took a turn while in theatre – peritonitis, a serious infection was confirmed, but his appendix was fine, which caused confusion.

“Then the surgeons had to go searching. Internal damage was found to his intestines and bowel.

“During the keyhole surgery the tiny magnets popped through the bowel and attached to the operating equipment.

“Two major surgeries in just a few days isn’t good for anybody, let alone a child. I am absolutely gutted; it’s a very worrying time.

“It has been a truly horrific experience. We didn’t think this could have ever happened to us. These tiny magnetic balls have cased such damage.

“Ellis went into theatre yesterday at 3pm and came back to the ward at 9pm. They had to remove five inches [13cm] of his bowel to get the remaining two magnets.

“They’ve also had to go through his intestines to get to them.

“We don’t know where he got them from. His head teacher did a search and they found a lot of kids with them at school.”

Sue said Ellis, who has a younger sister, Poppy, 10, and brother Reagan, 5, was facing a fight for his life.

She added: “The next 24 hours are going to be crucial. It’s all about how his body fights this infection now after his bowel burst.

“We wouldn’t have ever expected this. He’s gone from being a happy, healthy 11-year-old to being hooked up on wires and drips.

“His mum hasn’t left his side since Wednesday; she can’t.

“He went in thinking it was appendicitis, which itself is a big thing, and he’s ended up having major surgery.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission