The devastated family of an 8-year-old boy who tragically died because of a ‘social media challenge’ involving a common children’s toy has spoken out.
Rhys Millum from North Yorkshire, England, passed away after 10 3mm silver spherical magnets got stuck together in his bowel and he did not tell anyone about it.
The horror was only revealed after a full body CT scan days after he died.
According to the reports, Rhys had a conversation with his brother about boosting their social media pages by performing social media challenges.
His grieving mother, Andrea Boyd, said that she had seen magnetic tiny balls on TikTok as a ‘fake piercing challenge.’ The stunt involves placing one silver magnet on the inside of the cheek and another one on the outside.
She also said that her son looked well until Friday morning and showed no signs of swallowing the magnets.
“He was doubled over screaming. I gave him Calpol thinking it was wind. It did not seem to settle him much,” she expressed.
Mrs. Boyd also recalled how her 10-year-old son called her and asked her to take Rhys to the hospital.
She then rushed both of her sons to Harrogate District Hospital A&E department where Rhys was given anti-fever medication and painkillers.
On Saturday, Rhys refused to eat and struggled to drink water. But on Sunday, he lost consciousness on his chair.
His dad, Richard Millum, called an ambulance while trying to revive his son before he was rushed in intensive care. But when he arrived at the hospital, he suffered a heart attack and never regained consciousness.
Days after Rhys passed away, a pathologist found a 30mm metal formation stuck in the child’s bowel. A closer examination revealed that it was a row of ten 3mm wide silver magnets that pierced his small intestine.
During the hearing at Northallerton Coroner’s Court, it was told that the toys are advertised as a creative plaything that lets kids arrange magnets to make sculptures.
“We did try to brainstorm why he would put them into this mouth. Someone mentioned this TikTok thing and thought it might be that,” Mrs. Boyd said.
“Richard had mentioned the balls to me. He got them for the boys to make sculptures out of them.
“He did not really have any sense of danger. He was pretty fearless. We always joked he would be a stuntman when he was older.”
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