Do you think 8yr old could swallow 30 steel magnets....?

Question

... on her own with no help???

Story today in the news : 8yr old girl swallowed 30 steel magnetic balls all at once. girl claims she thought they were candy. All 30 of them. Parents say they were in the room with the girl but had no clue what she was doing. 2wks later she got sick. Hospital x ray shows 30 balls.

MY QEUSTION... Do you think an 8yr (2nd grade) would swallow that many of anything on her own??

They are steel, and heavy, and an 8yr old has established gag reflexes like an adult. Unlike toddlers. My 6yr can't even swallow a pill for allergies!!!! Gags everytime.

I think the parent did it to her, made her swallow them, so they could sue! What is your take???

Answer 1

I can't imagine any parent would do that "so they could sue".  Aside from the obvious choking hazard, swallowing magnets is massively dangerous because they can attract one another through critical tissue.  If you were doing it so you could sue, you'd be anticipating suing for the death of your child.

edit -- are you sure about toddlers having a less developed gagging reflex? that sounded odd to me and i just googled it, and it seems from a quick glance like even babies have a developed gagging reflex.  i can't imagine biologically why they wouldn't.

Answer 2

you would be surprised what kids will do, and if they are the kind of balls im thinking of they are very smooth and not that big, easily swallowed by about any size kid.  sure it pretty much tells us the kid wasnt being watched, and has apparently never been taught not to put stuff in her mouth, unless she has some form of pica or some such thing, we never know, but that would be even more reason to watch her.....who knows.

Answer 3

A baby or a toddler yes but not an 8 year old!!!  I was shocked when I saw the news and they showed the little girl.  At first I thought they were talking about a baby!

By eight years old a child should know not to swallow anything but food, unless the parents didn't teach that MAJOR lesson of life!

Answer 4

i dont really know but i do not think any child over 1st grade could do tht but then again, my friend doesnt have gag reflexes so i gues it could happen.

Answer 5

I have a 9 year old and there is no way she would eat one of those let alone 30. Anyway, they can't taste good so there had to be something seriously wrong with that child to eat 30 magnets. That's crazy!

Answer 6

Yes, I know an 8 yr old could swallow 30 steel magnets on her own.  I have worked with an entire population of prader willi's with pica and would suspect it first.  Many adults with this on a 2:1 ratio manage to swallow batteries.  I even know of 1 prader willi that swallowed a C battery on more than 2 occasions requiring surgery.  He didn't do it while I was working.  In general a medical reason should be the first route of exploration before judging or blaming the parents.

Answer 7

You would be very surprised what kids can and will do!

Answer 8

All I know is everytime I look at my 5 month old she's trying to put anything and everything in her mouth!  I saw on TV a boy who had eaten magnets and they'd attracted each other in his stomach and completely ripped his stomach apart in the process.  It was horrible and I'm not sure he lived.  So it obviously happens, how much of it is neglect, I really couldn't say.